I Howled at the Moon With Friends
by Flaming Crow
Summary: Hey, my name is Zoey Colt. I'm what you call 'not normal'. Long story- main point, I'm a wolf mutant. I've hidden that for years, but of course all hell breaks loose and SHIELD finds out about me. But, hey, I'm 'just a kid'. How could they stay mad? So, this is my adventure with the Avengers. Welcome to my crazy life. Rated T for tickles
1. Chapter 1

**I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE LAZY READ THIS A/N!**

**Hey, guys! This is my first non-crossover Avengers story, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I've been working on it for a couple of years actually, first writing it down in a journal and then typing it, so I've gotten it all written out, but if you have any ideas, I'll consider adding in stuff.**

**The first chapter is more of a prologue just to get a feel of my character's charac...ter... Yeah. Anywho, I'll post the next chapter soon, but I'll usually be updating every Saturday. **

**The title of this chapter is from Nine Days 'Absolutely'**

**I don't own MARVEL and only my characters**

Chapter One

This is the Story of a Girl

I let out a content sigh as I lie on a low hanging branch of a tree, the sun warming my back. A bird chirps loudly on a branch next to me, and I glance over at it. Below it, on another branch, my best friend and step-sister, Madison, lays. She sighs a few moments after I do, and at the roots of the tree, our dog, Angus, does the same. Yep, just a regular old lazy day at the ranch.

My name is Zoey, by the way. I'm what you call 'not normal'. A few years back in my crazy life, some scientists were doing experiments using a grey wolf's DNA and a human's. Apparently, I was a screw up. I think they were trying to make a werewolf or something like that, maybe a wolfman? Instead of that, I can choose when I want to be a wolf or not. And when I'm a wolf, I am big. Kinda like those ancient dire wolves I've heard about. Or a warg. But not ugly.

Anyway, one day this really formal looking man walks in and starts chatting with the scientists and looking at us experiments. I think the scientists were going to sell us as weapons for the 'military'. Then, the man stopped in front of my cage and asked about me. The scientist he was with said some things, and the next thing I know, I'm in the man's car, driving to his house.

I was only four or five at the time, but I remember him telling me that he needed me to protect his daughter or something like that. I'm not sure why, though.

Then the man, whose name was Mason, introduced me to Madison. Instantly, I knew that it was her I had to protect. From anything. There was no way I was going to let anything hurt her.

So that's how I wound up here. Cool backstory, huh? But let's not live in the past. I mean, for crying out loud, that was, like, nine years ago! Let's get back to reality.

I roll onto my belly and look at Angus. By the way, he's a Tibetan Mastiff. Mmm hmm, big and furry.

The poor brute is probably frying like an egg underneath his fur. As if to prove this, Angus gets up and shakes out his black and brown pelt before moving to a more shady spot.

"Zoey?" Madison suddenly mutters. I drowsily look at her from my slightly higher branch, "Yeah?"

"That dog is probably-"

"About to have a heat stroke?" I finish for her and she nods, opening an eye. She rolls onto her belly and looks down at Angus, "You need a bath, bro, and a haircut, too."

He raises his head and she says in a deep voice, "Yeah you."

I jump off of the tree and land like a cat. Angus snorts. "I'll get the scissors." I offer, "Mom won't mind, right?"

Madison jumps off of the tree and lands next to Angus. "Of course not," she scoffs, "I'll bring the beast over to the hose near the horse stables. Meet ya there!" She turns around and leaves towards the stables, with Angus following her at a slow trot.

I watch them disappear and then take off towards the house to get some scissors. Due to my enhancement, I'm much faster than a normal human. Unfortunately, I can't outrun dogs like greyhounds or other hunting dogs, or horses either.

On the way, I pass through the sheep's part of the field. Finn, our Australian Shepherd, is currently yapping at the sheep and nipping their heels. He's much younger than Angus, and way more energetic. Not to mention he's one of the biggest nuisances in the vineyard.

When he sees me he immediately runs to me at top speed. Oh yeah, and I can't outrun this guy either.

His brown, black, grey, and white fur blurrs together as he runs faster and faster. Ha, and they say I'm the specially enhanced one?

...well...nobody says that, actually.

Suddenly, Finn leaps to a stop, landing perfectly in front of me. I smile, kneel down, and pet his adorably fluffy head, "'Sup, Finney Finn?"

Finn licks my face and yips, "Hey Zoe Zoe!" Yep, it's every kid's dream. I can talk to dogs. I guess it's because of the little wolf inside of me.

I roll my eyes and groan, "Please don't call me Zoe Zoe."

He follows me as I get up and continue walking to the house. "Well then don't call me Finney Finn." he argues.

I look down at him, "But Finney Finn works for you!" Seriously, I'm not the only one who thinks that, right?

"And Zoe Zoe works for you."

Huh, the dog's got a big mouth. "Touche."

I can see the house ahead of us now. It's two stories tall, not including the attic, with a large tree next to it and the vineyard nearby.

"So what'cha doin?" Finn asks conversationally as he trots by my side.

"Going to get scissors and soap from the house, and then Madison and I are going to give Angus a bath and a haircut."

"Aaaand I'm outta here." the dog swings around and scampers away. I laugh and walk inside of the house. My step-mother, Luna, is in the kitchen washing a bunch of grapes. You know how when people think of step-mothers they instantly think of horrid barbie doll ladies that treat their step-daughter like scum and totally spoil their own daughters? See, she's the complete opposite of that.

Sure, she's got blond hair and blue eyes, but she is the BEST PERSON EVER! I swear she should win an Oscar award for America's Greatest Mom. She treats me like I'm her daughter too, and between you and me, I feel like she likes me better! Probably not, though. Anyway, back to Mom.

Luna's as sweet as a butterfly (not ladybug, they're freaky) most of the time, but when she's mad at one of her workers or clients, she goes full out Hulk! When this happens, Madison and I just like to grab some popcorn, sit back, enjoy the show, and be grateful that it isn't us she's getting mad at. Honestly, there are a lot of things that we do that she should get mad at. But, like before, a daisy.

And you want to know what the best part is? She makes the FRIGGIN' BEST FUDGE BROWNIES EVER!

"Hi, Zoey!"

I jerk back to reality as Mom asks, "What are you and Madison up to today?"

That question, right there! She asks that, like, everyday.

"We're giving Angus a total makeover!" I reply, perking up, "I'm talking bathing, haircut-"

"Well, how 'bout you do the horses next?" Mom asks, rolling her eyes.

"Mom!"

"Kidding!" she puts her hands up in defense and laughs. I grin and start scouring the house for scissors. As I open and close drawers, I say loudly, "And maybe we could even put some makeup on him! Or clothing! We could tie a blanket to his collar and make a superdog!"

Mom laughs again and exclaims, "Angus? A superdog? Good luck with that one, honey."

Giggling, I open up another drawer and see two pairs of scissors. Picking one up, I snip it twice before putting them both in my front pocket.

"Ooh, and also don't forget about the party."

I look at Mom and ask, "What party?" If there's a party, I'm going to be in it. There ain't no party without Zoey Colt!

Mom raises her eyebrows at me as she dries the grapes, "The one we have every year. People come and taste wine and we have games for their kids."

Ahh, yes, that party.

Time for long explanation.

So, every year at harvest time we have a wine party, since we, you know, live in a vineyard. The adults drink and chat while the kids play games that Madison and I set up. It is a wonderful time for celebration and getting drunk on wine and grape juice. Just kidding, Mom makes sure everyone drinks responsibly. Usually, Madison and I sing songs that we practice for the guests. Yes, yes, the wolf howl and all that stuff, I know. Now shut up and let me explain this stuff.

….great, now I lost my place. Where was I? Oh yeah, and most of the guests are friends, but some of them are people that we haven't even met before. In person, anyway.

When we see those strangers, I usually stick close to Madison, just in case. Ugh, great, that makes me sound like some overprotective father.

"Tomorrow you and Madison are going to help me pick some grapes from the vineyard," Mom says as I start shuffling towards the dogs' cabinet with all their stuff. "Okay," I reply, "but we get to take the horses."

"Fine."

Opening the cabinet, I skim through the many...many different dog shampoos. It's not that we bathe them very often, but Madison and I are very picky about scents. Grabbing one, I flick it open and take a sniff.

Mmm...green apple. My favorite. Anybody else?

With the scissors, soap, and a quickly picked bow, I walk back out into the fields. "Later, Mom." I say as I pass by.

When I get past the sheep (and Finn) and enter the horses' pasture, my thoroughbred, Moon, trots up to me. No, I did not just name her Moon because of my wolfness. I named her that because she's got a moon shaped mark on her forehead.

I smile and pat her neck. She neighs and jerks her head, looking at me expectantly. Probably wants peppermints. I reach into my back pocket and pull one out. Moon's ears perk up and I take it out of its wrapper before giving it to her.

With her breath now minty, I put Angus's shampoo bottle between my teeth and heave myself onto her back.

Bareback riding! Boo ya!

Looking around for a moment, I put the bottle in my pants (don't judge me) and secure the scissors and bow, which are in my pockets. Then, grabbing onto Moon's red mane, I nudge her flank with my foot. With a snort, she starts cantering towards the fence. The wind blows through my black hair and whistles in my ears as she races on.

How great is my life? Very.

A minute or so later, I see Madison and Angus up ahead and pat Moon's neck. She slows down to a trot (which, without a saddle or stirrups, hurts A LOT) and then stops by the fence near the stables.

Madison looks up with a hose in hand and exclaims, "There you are! Come on, let's wash Angus!"

I slide off of Moon's back and with a pat, she trots away. Taking the scissors out of my pocket, I put them on top of the fence and climb through it to the other side. Madison glances at the bottle in my pants and then at me, "Seriously?"

I take the bottle out with no regret and say, "Yep."

Madison rolls her eyes and starts getting Angus wet. Steam billows off of his pelt and he grunts in appreciation. See, Angus doesn't seem to mind baths, whereas Finn…

Taking the shampoo bottle in both hands, I squirt soap onto his back and head. Madison and I scrub his fur and soon soap suds are all over his body. I laugh and look at my step-sister, who does the same. "Angus looks like a sheep now!" she laughs.

I nod and suddenly remember about the party. "Mom wants us to pick grapes tomorrow for the Harvest Party next Sunday." I say. By the way, today's Wednesday. Hump Day!

Madison looks at me with a big grin plastered on her face, "Cool! Is my dad coming this year?"

I sigh. Madison rarely sees her father, Mason, because he's, like, the leader of the military or something like that. I guess you could call him a general. He also happens to be the one that brought me to the vineyard. I haven't seen him since, except on FaceTime and stuff like that.

"I don't know," I say with regret as I play with Angus's soapy fur, "Mom didn't say anything about it. He's probably very busy." Madison's face falls and her excitement is replaced with disappointment. I hate giving her bad news. It makes her sad which makes me sad. It's a sisterly chain reaction!

"I know," Madison sighs as we begin to hose off Angus, "I just hoped that maybe he could come this time. It would be nice if- ahh!"

Angus shakes his fur, sending water flying everywhere. A now-soaked Madison starts laughing and bends down to kiss the Mastiff's wet muzzle. I smile gratefully at Angus and he gives me a knowing look. Rolling my eyes, I squeeze the water out of my hair. Madison wasn't the only one who got wet!

We drop the depressing subject and start giving Angus a haircut. The sun dries us as we do so, and we talk about different things. Like planning a shopping spree at the mall. Or some PS3 games that we want to get.

"I want to get the next Batman game." I say and Madison nods her head feverishly as she cuts Angus's ear fur, "Me too! We've played Arkham Origins way too many times."

What? Girls can play violent video games too!

"Yeah," I agree, "Arkham Knight is gonna come out soon."

"I don't understand you humans and your 'PS3's." Angus rumbles and Madison, who has no idea what he said, pats his slightly damp head. "Do you like your haircut, hm? You like your haircut, foo foo? It's gonna make you feel all good and clean and…"

As Madison goes on in a pathetic doggy voice, the old dog gives me a 'seriously' look and I stifle a laugh.

As the sun starts to set, I snip the last bit of fur off of him. Now, he has much shorter fur and looks like a new dog. But oh my God you should've seen the pile of of cut dog fur on the ground. We might as well count Angus as one of the sheep later when he gets his winter coat!

Before he can escape, though, I take the pink bow out of my pocket and clip it to his collar. With a glare, he walks away and Madison laughs.

We climb through the fence and into the horses' pasture. I quickly find Moon and Madison finds her horse, a female appaloosa named Pepsi, and together we ride back to the house.

Angus, who was watching us from a distance, decides to follow us, trotting a bit away from the horses. Once we reach the sheep's part, we climb off and I pat Moon's nose, "Stables."

She jerks her head and Madison says the same to Pepsi. They turn around and walk back to the herd. We've trained the horses to know a few words. Pepsi is the lead mare in the herd, so when she tells them to go back to the stables, they'll go. Their stalls are always open, so if you think about it, it's a really good way to save us from work. Well, except for the workers who have to close the stalls at night.

"Hey, Zoey!"

I turn around to see Finn running towards us.

"Oh no." Angus and I both groan at the same time.

Madison laughs and pats her knees, "C'mere buddy!"

Finn leaps into her arms and starts licking her face. "Hey, guys, what's up, where you going?" he yips between licks.

"Okay, okay!" Madison laughs and puts him down. Tail wagging madly, he yelps, "I'm so happy to see you guys! Are we going home? I want some kibble!"

He turns around and starts running to the house. Madison laughs and chases him.

Angus and I look at each other.

"The dog's a year old, how can he be so energetic?" I ask and he jerks his head, "Remember, one year for you is seven years for us. The pup's still a...pup."

I shake my head and chase after Madison and Finn. Soon, Angus is at my heels and I watch as my sister and the Austie disappear inside the house. I run inside after them and skid to a halt. Madison's hand is an inch from my nose.

"Stop!"

I look at her in confusion and she gets a mischievous grin, "Hammer time!"

I smirk, but before we can put on music and dance, Mom jumps in between us. Literally. She actually jumped like a kangaroo.

"Stop!"

She looks at both of us and mimics Madison's voice, "Dinner time!"

We all laugh and walk to the dining table. Tonight's entree is: chicken, beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, cooked vegetables, and two glasses of Sprite and one with white wine.

We eat, talk, and laugh as the stars come out. Finn sits under the table, giving me puppy dog eyes the entire time. Every once in a while, I slip him a bit of chicken which disappears in 0.1 seconds.

Angus, who couldn't care less, lays quietly on a rug nearby. When we finish eating, Madison and I prepare the dog's meal.

Tonight's entree for them: chicken scraps, a bit of broccoli and carrots, some bowtie pasta, and at the very bottom of their bowl, dog food.

I swear they eat nearly as well as us. But, hey, Finn burns, like, a million calories everyday just for being him. And Angus...well, he's old anyway and we're gonna make his last years the best.

By nine 'o'clock, we're on the porch, ice cream in hand, watching the stars, which, from out here in the open plains, look beautiful. Just me, Madison, Luna, Angus, and Finn.

My family.

**So, how was that for a start? We're gonna be getting more into the Avengers in the next chapter. Btw, this is after the movie**

**R&R**

**- Flaming Crow**


	2. Part 1, Chapter 2

**Hey, I'm back. So, I forgot to mention in the last chapter that this story will have 2 parts. Part 1 will be about how Zoey gets involved with SHIELD and Part 2 will be about her adventure with the Avengers**

**The title of this chapter is from Travis Porter 'Party Time'**

**I don't own MARVEL and only my characters**

Chapter Two

We're gonna party, have a good time

"Up, up, up! Wake up guys, you gotta pick the grapes." I awake to the sound of Mom knocking on the door. Groaning, I open my eyes and sit up.

"Be right there." I call to her weakly before flopping back down on my bed. Be right here.

I turn to look at Madison, who is sleeping soundly on her own bed. Her strawberry blonde hair is splayed out everywhere in knots and snarls.

She suddenly gives a little jolt and I snort. Probably dreaming of being a cat or something.

Sighing, I roll off my bed and thump onto the floor, which, thankfully, has my purple rug. Dragging myself over to her as if my legs are broken, I snatch her pillow out from under her head and then whack her with it.

"Wak'up!"

Madison screams and falls off her bed, landing next to me. Unfortunately for her, she didn't land on my rug, because her's is in front of her bed. Fortunately for me, I found it very funny.

"Uuugh," Madison groans, sitting up while rubbing her head, "What happened? Did you- oh shut up!"

I let out my final laugh and a few giggles before calming down, an idiotic smile plastered on my face.

"Mom said we have to wake up." I snicker and she scowls, "Did you really have to scare me to death?"

I look her up and down and say sarcastically, "You seem alive enough to pick grapes."

Madison scowls again and hits me with her pillow. "You interrupted my dreaming." she complains, "It was weird, though. At first I was this pregnant black cat. And then I was, like, this big black wolf, like, really big, and I ate the other me. Well, I didn't eat me, just killed me, but I would've eaten me if you hadn't woken me up."

My smile falters a little and I roll my eyes to make it up. This isn't the first time she almost came to discovering my secret. And I just predicted her dreaming of cats. Sometimes….it feels like we're way too close. Freaky.

After getting dressed, we walk out of our room and towards the kitchen. Finn, of course, is already there, sitting on the floor. He jumps up when he sees us and yaps, "Oh, heeyyyy, my two favorite masters in the whole world! I love you soooo much! You know what would make me love you even more? If you-"

"Oh, be quiet Finn." Madison yawns as she opens the cereal cabinet, "Go eat your kibble."

"But I want bacon!" Finn whines as if she could understand him, "Or sausage!" he looks at me desperately and gives me the puppy dog eyes.

Sighing inwardly, I smile and say, "Why don't we make some bacon? I'm not in the mood for cereal."

Madison shrugs and goes to the fridge. I give Finn a wink and his tongue lolls. Madison takes out the raw bacon and starts setting it up. "How many strips?" she asks as I go to get orange juice.

I think about it for a moment and then reply, "Twelve. We can have it with toast or something."

She nods and puts the plate of bacon in the microwave. I start pouring the juice in two glasses and just then Angus walks in with Luna behind him.

"Mmm, I smell bacon." he barks gruffly. I notice, with my enhanced nose, that he still smells like green apple. Mom scratches his head and says in a lovey-dovey-doggy-voice, "What? You smell the bacon? You smell the bacon, don't you? You wanna get some!"

I inwardly giggle and pour juice into a third glass. A minute or so later, Madison takes out the bacon and sets it on the table.

"Oooh, yes!" Finn yipes, "Can I have some, please, please, please, oh, please, please, pleaseee!"

He jumps up and down and Madison puts her leg in front of him, "Whoa, Finn, calm down! You'll get some later, just stop barking!"

"Okay! Okay, I'll stop!" Finn immediately stops and lays down quietly on the ragged kitchen rug.

I roll my eyes and put bread in the toaster. Sipping my orange juice, I hand the other two glasses to Mom and my sister. Madison gratefully takes hers, but Mom waves her hands, saying, "I can't stay for long. I gotta go to a meeting with the workers. Give it to Finn or something."

She grabs a couple of pieces of bacon and, once it pops, a piece of toast before walking outside, "Pick the grapes! Bye!"

I sigh and gobble down my breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, Finn and Angus are wolfing down the remains of our meal. After finishing his piece, Finn moves on to the glass- or bowl, now- of orange juice, practically inhaling it.

Madison stares at him and shakes her head, "That dog is gonna die some day- either from eating all this crap that we give him, or eating too quickly. Or running off a cliff. Or running so fast that he can't stop and explodes."

I laugh and Finn looks up, "You find my death funny?"

"How 'bout we ride the horses to the vineyard?" I suggest, changing the subject. Madison nods and we walk outside, Angus and Finn following.

Madison turns around and says, "Alright, Finney. Herd out."

'Herd out' means he has to herd the sheep out of their pen. With a bark, he trots away. Since Angus is too old to herd, he joins us as we walk to the stables. Some of the horses are already in the field, such as Pepsi, but I go inside to find Moon laying down in her stall.

I gasp and rush to her side. One of the workers named Jacqueline is trying to pull her up.

"What happened?" I ask as Moon struggles to stand. Jacqueline is panting a little, "Oh, nothing, just a stomach ache. I'm going to take her for a little walk. You shouldn't ride her for the next few days, though, until she's completely better."

I stare at Moon worriedly and pat her muzzle, "Okay. Feel better, Moony!"

Disappointed, I walk outside to see Madison walking towards me with Pepsi following. She frowns and asks, "Why are you sad?"

I give her a strange look and ask, "How do you know I'm sad?"

Madison shrugs and mutters, "Just felt it I guess."

I shake my head and say, "Moon's sick so I can't ride her. I'll have to take Fox."

Fox, short for Foxy Roxy, looks kind of like Moon, but has more of a fiery chestnut color. She's also...well… a tiny bit more insane than Moon. But she's a good horse.

"Aww, poor thing." Madison says and I sigh before going to get Fox. She's currently rolling around in the grass. See? Insane.

Fox gets up when she sees me and snorts in my face. I scrunch my eyes shut and wipe flecks of goo off of my face. Fox neighs and I open my eyes. Sighing again, I heave myself onto her back. Unfortunately, her spine juts out more than Moon's so I'm rather uncomfortable. Oh, God, I miss Moon already.

Madison laughs at me as she gets up onto Pepsi's back. "Let me guess," she calls over as she walks to me, "You totally miss Moon?"

"You know me so well." I laugh slightly, shaking my head. She smiles and we set off towards the grape field. It isn't very far away, but, hey, riding horses is fun anytime!

I'm about to be proven wrong.

"Trot on, Pepsi!" Madison commands and Pepsi starts trotting. Fox, seeing her friend getting ahead of her, starts trotting too. I grit my teeth in pain as her spine smashes into my tailbone over and over, until, "Okay, how about we canter- whoa!"

Fox suddenly surges forward and I cling onto her neck. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God! I hear Madison laugh and quickly get into a more comfortable position, with my hands on Fox's short mane and my knees squeezing each of her flanks so I don't fall off.

In a few minutes, the vineyard is in sight and I jerk the horse to the right where there's a trail leading around the area. Slowing down, I jump off immediately and hook Foxy Roxy onto a pole, using a quick rope bridle that is left there. Madison does the same.

"Alright," I say, rubbing my hands together, "Let's get this done."

We are about to walk down the slope to the grapes, but then Madison says, "Wait, don't we need buckets for the grapes?"

I stop dead in my tracks. Oh, come on!

I do a facepalm and groan, "I hate myself." Madison rolls her eyes and walks back to Pepsi.

"Wait," Angus, who followed us, barks, "Try that shed." He points with his nose to a nearby shack and I call Madison back.

Walking over to it, I open the door and guess what? There's, like, one basket of clippers and other gardening stuff, and the rest is just buckets. Like, forty of them!

Madison and I glance at each other and I roll my eyes. We both grab one and then start walking in the lines of grapes. They are plump, purple, and look ready to harvest.

"So," Madison says as she plucks the first grape from its vine, "We set up some games before the guests arrive, of course, and then climb a tree and sing, right? I've got my guitar and you've got your rockin' voice."

I nod and pretend to blush, "Why thank you, Madison! I never knew you felt that way about me."

"Oh, shut up,"

I laugh and say, "Alright, alright! Let's sing P!nk songs! I love the album 'The Truth About Love'!" By the way, have I mentioned how much we _love_ P!nk? And fun.? So just imagine our reactions when we heard them singing together in 'Just Give Me a Reason'. Total flip out!

"Me too!" Madison says, "Let's practice later. Do you think the Avengers will like her songs?"

I nearly drop my bucket of grapes.

_What?_

I shake it off and act normal as I turn to her, "Why do you want _them_ to come?"

Those superfreaks will only bring trouble. With that whole alien attack in New York- I don't trust them. They'll put Madison in danger, or- well, something's bound to go wrong! And what did they do to the bad guy? Not kill him, that's for sure. Actually, I have no idea what they did to him, but still...

Madison shrugs, "I think it'd be cool to have superheroes at our house."

I grunt and continue picking grapes. Madison raises and eyebrow, "Why don't you want them to come?"

I blink and say quickly, "Oh I do! Can't wait!"

She gives me a 'seriously' look and I grin sheepishly. "Come on, Zoey, I know you too well. I can feel it- in mah belleh!" she puts her hands to her stomach as she quotes from 'Rise of the Guardians'.

I laugh, "Okay, okay. So what if I'm not...comfortable with them coming? I mean, they did kinda tear apart Manhattan. And anyway, they live in New York. Why would they travel thousands of miles to come to a vineyard party?"

"I hear Tony Stark has a house in Malibu."

Suddenly, Angus growls.

Madison looks down at him and says in a doggy voice, "What? Smell any lions?"

I snort and shake my head, "There's no lions in California!"

"No, no," she corrects, "Mountain Lions. And big ones!" Ha! I don't believe it! I think she had one piece of bacon, too many.

"Sure." I say sarcastically.

"It's true, pup." Angus barks. Ugh, I hate it when he calls me 'pup'. It makes me feel small.

Madison, of course, doesn't understand and guesses, "See, Angus agrees."

I roll my eyes. Mountain Lions in California? Or anywhere remotely near Malibu? Phh, when pigs fly!

We don't talk much after that. By noon, our buckets are full of grapes, and to save us from spilling them, we decide to walk back to the house instead of riding the horses. I unhook Fox from the pole, "Alright, girl, beat it!"

She looks at me with big brown eyes and I shrug in confusion. "What? I'm not riding you." I smack her rump lightly, "Scram!"

She and Pepsi take off at a canter back towards their pasture. I look at Madison and shake my head. She laughs and we make our way back to the house.

As we pass by, I see Mom and some of the other workers decorating the field where the party takes place. It's near the wooded area that surrounds most of the vineyard.

Hmm...I guess Mountain Lions could live there. Walking inside the house, we quickly wash the grapes. Popping one into my mouth, I savor its' delicious flavor. Madison suddenly disappears for a few moments, then reappears with her guitar and an iPod. "So, let's practice."

* * *

Sunday 7:00 AM

Day of Party

Madison and I both wake up at the crack of dawn. We're too excited to sleep. I jump off the bed and grab a jacket. My step-sister does the same and together we quietly sneak downstairs. Mom's still asleep, along with Angus and Finn. Wait, no, I take that back.

Finn suddenly rushes towards us, "Hey, guys, whatcha doing? It's a bit early but I guess-"

"Shhh!" Madison shushes, "Be quiet, Finn!"

Finn clamps his mouth shut and I tiptoe up to the door. I'm about to open it when Madison grabs my arm.

"What?" I hiss, turning around. She points to a white box on the wall. The alarm. Leave me to be the idiot.

She turns it off and I quietly open the door. It's late spring, so a warm draft of air hits our faces. Finn follows us as we run around the house to the Party Field. Yep, that's what I'm calling it now.

There are tables everywhere with funky tablecloths covering them. Dotted here and there are poles with ribbons wrapped around them. For the adults, Mom set up a mini wine tasting bar with cabinets full of different kinds of wine near a pond. I've tried a bit of wine in my past and believe me when I tell you this. It. Is. _Disgusting!_

It's all sour and tart and I can't taste the grapes! I don't know why grown-ups make such a big deal about it. And beer isn't any better.

Our games are on the other side of the field, near a clearing in the wooded area. There's arts and crafts, where we teach kids how to make masks and pins. We have a big rope for tug-of-war. A waterslide for cooling off. A twister set. Bingo….for some reason. And at around 2:00 the kids step barefoot into a big crate of grapes and squish all the juice out of them. According to Mom, that's how people made wine back in the days.

Also, at 12:00 Madison and I show all the little kids the animals we have. Horses, sheep, the dogs, chicken, cows- but not Buster the bull. That guy's got wicked horns and the temperament of a honey badger. Look it up on YouTube. You'll see what I mean.

I walk up to a nice big Jacaranda tree and climb up to a suitable branch. Yes, yes! The wolf, I know! I taught Madison how to climb when we were seven. Now, she's almost as good as me.

Almost.

Since it's spring, there's a fair amount of bees buzzing around the tree and its purple flowers. They don't bother me, though. Used to scare the stuffing out of Madison, but now she's okay around them. Just as long as they don't get too close.

She quickly runs back to the garage to get her guitar and I help her up. I set the guitar on a fork in the branches and reach down to grab her hand. I easily pull her up, what with my super-wolf-mutant-strength, and she sits down next to me on my branch.

"Okay," I say, "Let's practice, 'Just Give Me a Reason'." Madison nods and starts playing her guitar.

_Right from the start you were a thief_

_you stole my heart_

_and I, your willing victim_

_I let you see the parts of my that weren't all that pretty_

_and with every touch you fixed them (ew)_

_Now you've been talkin' in your sleep_

_uh oh_

_Things you'd never say to me_

_uh oh_

_Tell me that you've had enough, _

_of our love, our love…._

(scene changes and they're singing to a crowd at the party later in the day)

_Just give me a reason_

_Just a little bit's enough_

_Just a second,_

_we're not broken, just bent_

_and we can learn to love again!_

The crowd sways from side to side to the beat of the song. I smile and sing on.

_It's in the stars_

_It's been written in the scars_

_on our hearts_

_That we're not broken just bent_

_and we can learn to love again!_

Madison starts singing with me because the song's a duet with Alecia Moore and Nate Ruess. Both of our favorite singers. Singing a song. Ahh, I still remember the day when we first heard it.

The crowd cheers and whoops when I sing the high note perfectly. I notice a familiar looking man walk up to us when we finish. For a moment, I wonder if he's one of the Avengers, but then Madison screams and jumps off the tree.

"DAD!" she cries and runs to him. Ahh, now I remember him. Mason grins and hugs his daughter and I get a warm, joyful feeling in my stomach.

Which, of course, turns to complete dread and despair when I see who is behind him.

I let out a little growl and mutter, "You just _had_ to come and bring your little friends to Malibu, eh, Stark?"

**Told ya we'd get into the Avengers soon. Anyway, I wrote this chapter a little while ago when 'Just Give Me a Reason' was still popular, so... yeah. Sorry for all of you that have never heard that song. I hate reading stories and the characters just start singing songs I have no clue about. **

**Anywho**

**R&R**

**-Flaming Crow**


	3. Part 1, Chapter 3

**Woo, long chapter! So, now that we're at the third chapter, I'm going to be updating every Saturday. If I ever forget, you guys have my permission to annoy me about it until I update. **

**The title of this chapter is from P!nk 'Sober'**

**I only own my characters**

Chapter Three

Why do I feel this party's over?

"Madison!" Mason, the mr military man, and also my adoptive father, calls, pulling his daughter into a hug, "It's great to see you!"

Madison, who has tears running down her cheeks, making my heart ache, gasps, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?!"

"I thought it would be a nice surprise." Mom suddenly says, walking up to them and giving her husband a kiss. I stand by awkwardly, not really 'into' the big family thing. It's really hard to act cool around the person who's supposed to be your dad but also happens to be your boss. And master. Woof.

"IT WAS A FLIPPIN AWESOME SURPRISE!" Madison screams before crying into her dad's shoulder. Mason-I can't call him Dad- laughs softly and rubs her back. Then, he catches my eye and his smile falters for a second and I see a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

I force a grin and look behind him. The Avenger's dude, Tony Stark, is walking away awkwardly back to the rest of his team, who are sitting at a table with a few bottles of wine.

Oh, great, just what we need.

Drunk superfreaks with powers that can kill the entire human race.

Madison and Mason separate after a few minutes of tearful hugging and he slowly walks up to me. "Uh, hey Dad?" I say awkwardly. Why is everything awkward? Seriously, I've said that, like, five times already!

"Hi, Zoey." he replies and then bends down a little to hug me. As his head passes my ear, he mutters, "Walk with me later. We need to talk."

I feel like groaning in annoyance, dread, fear, and all this other gibber gabber. But instead, I pat his back and break the embrace first.

Madison skips up to him, "You won't believe what has happened while you were gone!"

Mason laughs as she drags him towards the unknown. Mom smiles and, with a glance at me that suggests that I should try to have fun (I know her very well), she follows them.

I stand there for a few seconds, watching the Avengers, and then walk away in search of Finn.

"Hey, Zoey!" I pause and turn around. One of the workers named Chelsea is jogging towards with a bunch of kids shadowing her. Oh, I forgot. Got to show the kiddies the animals.

"Where's Madison?" she asks and I shake my head, "She's off with her dad."

"Oh," Chelsea smiles, "Good for her!"

I nod and take over the group of kids. "You guys' ready to see some cool animals?"

"Yeah!" they chorus.

"Then let's go!"

I lead them to the sheep first, hoping that Finn is there. He is, and while the kids pet the sheep, I motion him to the side and kneel down.

"Hey, Finn-"

"Hi, Zoey!" he yaps, licking my face. I pull away and say, "This is serious, Finn. The Avengers are here and I have a bad feeling about them. They might hurt Madison or find out about my powers. I need you and Angus to keep a close eye on them until they leave."

Finn's lolling tongue flips back into his mouth and he nods, "Okay. What about the sheep?"

"Forget the sheep. Madison's safety is more important."

I stand up and am about to walk away when Finn asks, "But, Zoey. Why do you and Mason want to protect Madison so much? Sure, Mason's enemies _might_ try to kidnap her, but what would they use her for? Hostage negotiation?"

I blink. Finn just said something _smart. _

"I have a feeling she's...not like everyone else." I reply and then walk back to the kids. After a few more minutes of them petting the 'bahhing' sheep, we move onto the horses. Then the cows. Then the chickens. The kids really like animals.

But as we're walking back to the Party Field, Mason appears. Uh oh.

"Okay, kids," I say softly, "run off to your parents, now."

They all scatter and I walk up to Mason. He has a grim smile on his face, "Walk with me."

I think it would be nice you you to know that it's been a while since Mason and I have talked to each other alone. And a while meaning nine years. Ever since I got out of his car and saw the vineyard for the first time, we hadn't really spoken.

We walk along the treeline of the woods in a awkward silence. Then, Mason says, "It's been a long time Zoey."

No duh!

"Yup," I reply.

More silence.

"I'm sorry to say that I haven't been fully honest with you."

I stop dead in my tracks. "What?" I exclaim and he raises a hand for silence. "I mean about Madison. And also a bit about your powers."

I gape him and he continues, "Have you ever wondered the real reason as to why you have to protect Madison?"

Slowly, I nod, "And?"

"Well," he shifts uncomfortably, "She has...certain powers that...certain people would take interest in."

"Like the Avengers?" I ask and he nods, "They also are linked with a secret government agency called SHIELD. They are the main reason that I needed you."

"Why are they here?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I don't know, but they are why I came."

"And what are Madison's powers?"

Mason takes a deep breath and says, "She can...well it's kind of hard to explain, but she can remember things. Really well. She can basically record entire conversations and then recite them."

"Well that explains how she remembers every dream she has and I remember nothing." I mutter, "So, she's like a Jabberjay? From the Hunger Games?"

He smiles and says, "I don't know what that is, but I guess. She can also learn really quickly. With powers like that, people could use her against each other. And I don't want that to happen, obviously."

I nod again and say, "Sooo, what about my powers?"

"Well, this is kind of a side-effect from the wolf DNA in your bloodstream."

"Oh great," I snort, "Side-effects always end badly."

"Not this time, though." Mason says, "It's not entirely bad unless you don't use it to your advantage. When I brought you home, the scientists said that you were ready to find a 'subject'. That 'subject' was Madison. Do you and her have an unusually strong bond?"

I think about it for a moment, and then say, "Yes."

"Okay. Now, to my understanding, you and her are practically linked. You can feel her feelings, that is, if they are strong enough, and she can feel yours. If Madison is panicked, you can feel her fear."

"That kinda explains how Madison sometimes gets close to discovering my secret." I say and he smiles, "Yes, yes it does."

"But," I start, "What does that have to do with my...wolfness?"

"I don't know. Those scientists were strange."

I nod and we fall into a short silence. Wait a minute, I'm pretty sure what the scientists were doing was illegal. Why didn't he stop them? I'm about to ask him when I hear Madison's voice.

"Dad! Zoey!"

We turn around to see her running towards us. Suddenly, she skids to a halt, just as a strange scent reaches my enhanced nose.

Whirling around, I see a huge Mountain Lion snarling at us. Its long sharp claws are flexing and its nose is twitching. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Madison holding a chicken. Oh great.

"Run!" she screams, spinning around and sprinting off. The Mountain Lion takes off after her. With a quick glance at Mason, I run in front of it. Without hesitation, I morph into a huge black wolf with one amber eye and one green eye.

The wolf has returned.

Hmm, should I leave the chapter off there? Nah, it would be to short….and that would be cruel to you guys.

The Mountain Lion skids to a halt and stares at me. Then, it snarls and charges at me.

Growling and baring my teeth, I leap at it. If I were a full grown mutant, I would be much bigger than it. But since I'm not, I'm only, like, a foot taller.

My weight throws it off balance and I collapse onto it. The lion snarls and swipes at my cheek. Its claws barely penetrate my thick fur, let alone my skin. I snarl and bite its shoulder and it yowls in pain.

The cat wriggles underneath me and I fall off. It quickly stands up and barrels into my side. Yelping, I stumble and the lion takes its opportunity and leaps onto my back. I start bucking and kicking like mad, spinning around in circles and rearing on my hind legs but the beast clings on like a burr. Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my shoulders and the weight of the cat falls off.

Looking over my shoulder, I see bare patches on my back. The Mountain Lion snarls at me and shakes black fur out from its claws.

People are screaming, but I can barely hear them over the blood roaring in my ears. The lion and I glare at each other, circling around and lashing our tails. The big cat roars and swipes its paw, aiming for my eyes. I duck and bite its forearm. The feline hisses in pain and worms out of my grasp.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzes past my muzzle and the lion and I both jump back in surprise. That's when I realize that _everybody's watching_.

The arrow came from one of the Avengers, Hawkeye, I think. The Mountain Lion and I look at each other and we both get the message that the fight can continue later. Then, another arrow is shot and the cat drops dead, the arrow sticking out of its throat.

Shaking myself, I dodge the arrow shot at me and dash into the forest. I hear footsteps behind me and run faster. Ducking behind a bush, I try to control my beating heart and prick my ears. Multiple voices are speaking nearby.

"What _was_ that?"

"I don't know. We should call Director Fury."

"Yeah, that was no ordinary wolf. Why would it come here though?"

"Could it be one of those girls?"

I mentally invent an all-cuss word song and sneak away as fast as I can. As soon as they are out of earshot, I start muttering to myself, "What the _hell_ were you thinking? You just couldn't let Mason shoot it with a gun or something? Now everybody has seen me in my wolf form, and those Avenger superfreaks will come and hurt Madison. What was I thinking! I-"

"Shh!"

My ears perk up and I look around. Angus and Finn step out of the shadows, looking around nervously.

"Are you hurt, pup?" Angus asks and I shake my head, "Then follow us."

I obediently follow the dogs as they lead me out of the woods. "I'm sorry," I whine, "I should've just ran and let the grown-ups take care of it-"

"Yes, you should have." Angus growls, but I can hear no hostility in it, "Yet you didn't, so right now our main focus is keeping your secret a secret."

"Yeah," I agree, "If Madison finds out she'll never look at me the same way again. Everything would be ruined."

"Don't worry, Zoey." Finn yaps, "Everybody should forget once they've had a few more glasses of wine. Also, no offense, but great kibble you are big!"

I glare at him lightly and turn back into a human.

"Zoey!"

Madison shouts, running to me as I walk out of the forest. "Are you okay?" she frets, "What happened? When I looked over my shoulder I just saw this huge wolf and the Mountain Lion!"

"I saw it pass by me as I ran into the forest." I lie, "I don't know what it was." Everybody's gotta tell a white lie once in a while. "And I'm fine." That isn't a lie. The feline's claws couldn't scratch me because of my thick pelt. And my shoulders only hurt a bit.

Madison smiles and pats my back, "Bet ya regret what you said about Mountain Lions!"

Phew!

"Totally!" I say and laugh. Madison laughs too and hugs me, "You may not believe this, but I was really worried. Next time, run after me."

I smile and hug her back. Looking up, I see Mason watching us. As we pull away, he approaches.

"Hey girls," he says, "The guys called and I'm gonna have to go back to work."

"What?!" Madison exclaims and my heart clenches. Confused, I blink at him and then realize that this must be what Madison is feeling.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I have to."

"This doesn't have anything to do with the Mountain Lion, right, Dad?" Madison asks, "Because that has never happened before and I think that big dog taught it a lesson."

Mason shifts awkwardly and says, "No, no, not at all. There's small problem at the base, though, and I need to be there. We'll FaceTime tonight, I promise."

Madison's face drops and he quickly adds, "But I can still stay for a couple of hours! Let's have some fun in the meantime."

She brightens up a bit and says, "Okay. Come on!"

* * *

The Next Day

Just so you know, the party didn't go too well after that. People left sooner than usual, and we barely had any kids left for the grape squashing. Madison and I had to help. My feet still smell like grapes.

Right now, we're putting away tables with some of the workers. The legs fold into the front so it's pretty easy for us- especially me with my super-mutant-wolf strength. Unfortunately, the worker, Chelsea, doesn't think we can do it.

"Don't worry, guys," she says as she walks over, "we'll do it. You go and help your mom."

Madison and I look at each other and I suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

"Okay, thanks, Chel." I thank, and then we both walk towards Mom, who is putting away the games. Once we're out of earshot, Madison mimics, "Don't worry, we'll do it."

I grin and giggle. Chelsea has always been protective of us, even though I could totally snap her neck anytime anywhere. If I wanted to. "She acts like we're little kids." Madison complains, "I mean, 'hello woman'? We're tweens!"

I shake my head, still giggling, and pick up a stray frisbee. "Oh!" she exclaims and snatches it. I watch as she tries to throw the frisbee to Mom. But, if there's anything that you should know about Madison, is that she _sucks_ at throwing frisbees. So, of course, it ends up on the roof of our house.

"Fail." I smirk and she play punches my arm. Rolling my eyes, I lead the way towards the twisted tree next to our house.

Its top branches touch the roof, but before I can start climbing, Madison asks warily, "Are you sure this is safe?" I scoff and start climbing, "Probably not. But I'm here, so it's alright."

"We could get in big trouble."

"I know….isn't it great?"

It's her turn to roll her eyes, but she soon follows me as I make my way up the tree. As we get higher, the branches get thinner. I accidently put my hand on one of the thin ones and it snaps. Madison gasps.

"It's okay." I reassure her, keeping my cool. Being more careful now, we eventually make it to the roof. And in good time too, because Mom has finally spotted us.

"How'd you get up there?" she calls up to us. I open my mouth, already forming a lie in my brain, but Madison beats me to it, "Uh, through the attic window. We're getting a frisbee."

"That Madison threw onto the roof!" I add and Madison scowls.

"Well, just be careful."

"No, we're going to skateboard off the roof." I say sarcastically to Madison. She snickers and walks towards the frisbee. Before she can throw it, though, I grab it and toss it. It flies through the air gracefully before sinking perfectly down to Mom, who catches it. Madison scowls again and I stick my tongue out at her.

She scoffs and after a moment sits down on the roof. I join her quietly. For a while we just admire the beauty of the vineyard, of our home. The horses galloping and grazing. Finn herding sheep. Even watch the birds fly by.

Of course, this peace can't last for long.

Angus's howling and barking breaks the silence, "There's a car coming down the road! It's black...and looks like trouble."

Quickly, I cast my super-mutant senses out, listening and watching. My sharp vision just barely makes out a large car, yes black, driving down the dirt road at the end of the fields. I watch as it comes to a halt, and five people pour out of it.

I mentally curse and stand up. Madison looks at me, confused, and asks, "What's wrong?" Shoot! Think fast, Zoey!

"Um, let's go on the other side of the roof." Lame, I know. But I'm just trying to protect her. It's, like, part of my programming. Hahaha, I sound like a robot. I-am-a-ro-bot-wolf. Ding dong, ding dong. Ahh! Focus Zoey!

Looking over my shoulder, I see them walking to the house. Finn races towards them, with Angus trotting behind. Good, let them get slobbered on. It'll buy me some time.

Madison walks up to the top of the roof and then disappears over the side. With a last glance over my shoulder, I follow her.

"Oh, I like this side." Madison comments, sitting down, "We can see the little pond and the cows."

I nod, inwardly freaking out, and stiffly sit next to her, "Yeah...cool."

Listening intently, I can hear one of the superfreaks talking to Mom. Please tell them to go away, Mom!

Madison looks at me, her eyes narrowed, "Something's wrong."

I jerk my head in surprise, "What?" Is she also, like, a future seer?

"I don't know, I just feel it."

Oh! Must be _my_ feelings. Forcing myself to calm down, I say, "It's probably nothing."

Just then, footsteps approach the house and a man's voice calls, "Misses Zoey and Madison Colt, please come down. We need to speak with you." Wow, what a giveaway, Mom. My step-sister looks at me, "Who's that?" I shrug and resentfully follow her as she walks across the roof.

I get a good look at them as Madison begins climbing down. That thunder guy isn't here, and neither is the ninja girl, but another man replaces them. He looks tough, eye patch and all, and I think I can see a gun strapped to his belt. Uh oh. That ain't good.

Madison and I swing down the tree. She drops down first and I hesitate on a branch.

Just deny any accusations.

Sighing, I land with a 'thump'.

I don't see Mom with them. Where is she? Shoot, what did they do to her?!

Angus and Finn edge their way towards me as Madison walks up to the group. "If things get messy, just hold them off." I whisper, barely audible.

"Hi." Madison says, "I'm Madison, and this is my sister, Zoey." I put on a very forced, fake smile and nod a greeting. She continues, "What brings you to our vineyard? Are you looking for our mom?"

Oh, Madison. So oblivious to the danger you could be in.

The man with the eye patch replies, "We're here to see you and your sister. Would you please come with us?"

Nuh uh, buddy.

"We spoke with your mother and she said it was alright." he adds after a moment.

"Why do you want us?" I ask sharply and they all look at me. I get the feeling they know I'm the wolf.

Another man,- uh, Hawkeye, I think- steps forward, "We'll explain in a more private place."

"What's wrong with here?" I pursue. Madison elbows me in the ribs, "Zoey! Don't be rude! Of course we'll-"

"There's nobody here for a few miles." I interrupt, sitting down on a tree root. Patting one, I say, a bit challengingly, "Come. What've you got to say? And don't worry, the dogs aren't into gossip."

A few of the Avengers frown while others glance at each other uncertainly. Hawkeye and the eye patch dude walk towards us, "We need you to come with us." Hawkeye suddenly grabs my arm while the other man grabs Madison. Then, everything turns to chaos and my instincts take over.

Finn leaps on the eye patch dude (gonna call him Mad-Eye from now on. What, I like Harry Potter! Don't judge me!) while Angus snarls at the rest of the team. I let out a very wolf-like snarl and punch Hawkeye's face, making his nose bleed. He grunts in pain and I knee him in the gut. Whirling around, I slip out of his grasp and face a large man with short blond hair.

Thinking quickly, I kick him where the sun-don't-shine, but he seems to barely feel it, only stumbling a little.

Lunging forward, he punches the side of my head and black dots dance across my vision. Groaning, I stumble to the side and feel strong arms pin mine to my sides. Then, something hard hits the back of my head and I black out.

**I think I should let you guys know that I _love _cliffhangers. The next chapter will probably have one, but the I don't think the one after that will. I'm not that evil. Anyway, see ya next Saturday!**

**Tally ho!**

**-Flaming Crow**


	4. Part !, Chapter 4

**Bleh, short chapter. Sorry guys. But there will be a few explanations of things, so that's good. Anyway, did you guys see the Amazing SpiderMan 2? OMG it was awesome! I love Peter and Gwen! **

**This chapter's title is from Imagine Dragons 'Radioactive'**

**I only own my characters**

Chapter Four

I'm waking up, to ash and dust

I know I'm awake.

I can feel it.

But my eyelids seem too heavy to lift. Sleep is threatening to take over, but something is nagging me at the back of my mind.

This feeling seems familiar though. I wonder how many times I recall feeling this way back at the lab. All those drugs and chemicals and the exhaustion of mazes and experiments, and for what? That's when my eyes snap open.

Where's Madison?

I sit up quickly, ignoring the fact that my head is spinning. Looking around, I see I'm on a white bed in a strange room that reminds me a lot of...the lab. My wrists are bound tightly to metal railings on the sides of the bed.

My heart speeds up. What if they took me back to the Lab? I don't want to go back! I can't! I promised myself I would never go back there! Ahh! Who-what…

Oh.

I relax a little when I realize that it's just rope tying me to the bed. The scientists are smarter than that. Then who would…? Ahh, it must be that government agency...SHIELD.

Idiots.

I easily break them and jump off my bed.

"Perhaps we should use handcuffs next time." I whirl around and see Mad-Eye behind a glass wall. Gross, he was probably watching me and waiting for me to wake up. Creeper.

"What do you want?" I growl, "Why am I here?"

Mad-Eye picks up something and taps it a few times before showing me. It's a video of me, as the wolf, fighting the Mountain Lion. Man, I look pretty badass. When the video is done, he looks at me and says, "Would you like to explain this, and your powers, Miss Colt?"

I shake my head and ask, "How do you know that was me?"

"So you're admitting that you were the wolf?"

"No!" I say quickly, "I just want to know what makes you think I was the wolf."

Mad-Eye starts walking around, "I'll start with the simple things, then. First off, how many people in this world have one green eye and one yellow?"

Ooh, right.

Pause: quick explanation

So, yeah, I have one green eye and one amber. Obviously, because of the scientists. I assume that if I were completely human, I would have green eyes, but since I'm part wolf, and most wolves have amber eyes, my left eye is amber. Also, since he's probably going to mention this, I have a jagged scar that starts on my left temple and then arches slightly before ending near the bridge of my nose. As for how I got it, let's just say, if you see a thorn bush, don't start acting like an idiot around it. You'll regret your actions in about seconds.

"And your scar matches this wolf's." Mad-Eye adds and I swallow the urge to yell, "I KNEW YOU'D SAY THAT!"

"And your hair is black like the wolf's fur. And you disappeared when it came. And-"

"Okay, okay!" I interrupt, "You can shut up now!"

He scowls and I ask, "Where's my sister?"

"We have your sister in another room." he sighs, clearly annoyed, "But first you and I have to talk about a few things."

I roll my eyes and walk up to the glass, "I don't have time for this! You and your SHIELD buddies better keep your noses out of other people's business, if you know what's good for you! Now shut up, give me back my family, and things won't get messy."

"Be careful of what you say, mutant." he seems to growl, "You don't want to get on my bad side."

"I thought I was looking at it." I sneer back. Ouch! Okay, I feel so awesome for saying that!

Before he can reply, I spin around and bolt for the door. Using my mutant strength, I break the lock and run outside.

Sirens go off all around me and I hear Mad-Eye running towards me. Instinctively, I flee, with no idea where I'm going. I run down hallways, burst through doors, and dodge agents. Suddenly, a big group of them appear at the end of the hallway, guns raised.

Quickly, I morph into my giant wolf form and leap over them. Unfortunately, I slam into the opposite wall, but immediately scramble to my paws and run towards a door that looks promising. Ducking my head, I ram my shoulder into it and skid to a halt.

Hundreds of agents stare at me.

Holy llamas! I must've hit the jackpot!

Instantly, they all have their guns trained on me and are yelling at each other and blah blah-you get the point, right?

Suddenly, something snags in my hip fur. Looking over my shoulder I see Hawkeye - again. That Black Widow chick is by his side this time. The arrow couldn't penetrate my thick black pelt, like most things, and I shake it out. It seems like he tried to tranquilize me. Good luck with that one.

Black Widow suddenly charges at me with surprising speed and kicks my flank. Grunting, I stumble a little but quickly retaliate and land a blow to the side of her head that sends her reeling. Hawkeye locks another arrow in his bow and aims it at me.

Growling, I leap at him and pin him to the ground. A few agents start shooting at me, but the bullets only get lodged in my pelt. Hawkeye yells in pain as I sink my fangs into his shoulder. Sorry man, but you're getting in my way….and you just be grateful it wasn't your throat!

Looking up, I see another door with a window that shows daylight. Good, maybe I can bury him.

A bullet suddenly hits the side of my head and I see Black Widow aiming her gun at me. Since she's closer, the bullet managed to cut my skin, but it didn't do enough damage to kill me. Growling, I whirl around and kick her with my hind legs. Then, like a mother to her pup, I grab Hawkeye by the scruff of his shirt and drag him outside with agents following.

Unfortunately, it seems like I'm on some sort of hovercraft because the ground is metal. When I pause, Hawkeye starts struggling and trying to worm out of my grip. I growl and shake him like a squirrel. Then, I drag him farther out into the open, towards the edge of the hovercraft.

When I see the agents beginning to form a circle around me, I drop him and try to run, but they close the circle.

Trapped.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a couple of agents going to help Hawkeye. Wait, no. I could use him. I bound over to them and snarl, making them scurry back. Hawkeye tries to get up but I growl and drag him back down by his injured shoulder. Then, I plant my paw firmly on his chest and stare at Mad-Eye.

He stares back, emotionless, but I can see him mulling the situation over in his head. I bark at him, and am faintly aware of the blood lapping at my paws.

Come on, you know what I want. I'll give you your little archer and you give me my family. A simple trade.

After what seems like years, Mad-Eye says through gritted teeth, "Bring the girl." Two people walk away from the group and I lift my chin in triumph.

"No, sir, it's alright." Hawkeye suddenly says and I look down at him, "I've got this." He suddenly punches me with his good arm and I stumble off him. He scrambles up but I recover quickly and jump in front of him, preventing him from going to Mad-Eye. Snarling, I bare my long teeth and slowly take a step forward, showing off my long claws and deadly fangs.

Hawkeye narrows his eyes and tries to kick my jaw. I duck but quickly come back up and bite his calf and pull, causing him to fall.

Once again, I pin him to the ground. But suddenly I do something that shocks me. I lunge for his throat and feel my jaws close around it. What am I doing?!

I can taste blood on my tongue by the time Mad-Eye interrupts, "If you kill him, we kill your sister." My eyes widen and the thrill of the hunt dies. I draw my head back, looking down at Hawkeye in horror. There are four scratches on his neck, and thankfully, they are only bleeding a little bit.

What have I done? I...I'm not supposed to kill. Am I? Well, unless they threaten Madison's safety. But it was strange….I couldn't stop myself until I was reminded of Madison.

Footsteps interrupt my confusion and I turn to the sound. My step-sister and best friend is standing a few feet away, staring at me with wide eyes. My heart sinks. Tears begin to fill her eyes, "Zoey?"

I whine. She lets out a small gasp, covers her mouth, and then whispers, "You...what? You're a wolf?"

I wish the ground would open up and swallow me. I wish I could just sink into the shadows. I wish I could just disappear. Or simply curl up and die.

But no, it's over. She's seen me like this, and she'll never look at me the same way again. Our relationship I knew is over, and I can never get it back.

I look at where Mad-Eye is standing, the other Avengers behind him. My lips draw back and I let out a long, low growl.

_And it's all. His. FAULT!_

**I told you there would be a cliffie. It would've been too long if I had continued, so I had to cut it in half. BTW I HAVE LINKS ON MY PROFILE IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT ZOEY AND MADISON LOOK LIKE! R&R please! See ya next Saturday.**

**Tally ho!**

**-Flaming Crow**


	5. Part 1, Chapter 5

**Sorry, sorry, sorry, it's late, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! Sorry sounds weird now. Anyway, HAPPY MAMAS DAY!**

**The title of this chapter is from Imagine Dragons 'Monster'**

**I only own my characters**

Chapter Five

If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?

Pain

That's what I feel

Not physically, but it hurts none the less. There's a sharp pain in my heart, and I fear that it's breaking. And I want the man who caused this pain to hurt like I do.

I make sure that he's watching me, and then look back down at his friend. I bare my teeth, saliva running down my long fangs, and poise to strike. Everybody's tense, and the sound of metal clicking tells me that they have their guns out.

But I don't care.

And I don't care if Madison sees me do this. It's not like she would treat me the same way if I didn't. She's already seen me as the beast I can be, and now I'm showing her what I can really do. It still hurts, though.

I'm about to bite down on Hawkeye's throat, when Madison cries, "Wait! Zoey, stop!"

I glance up and see her slowly walking towards me.

"What are you doing?" Her voice sounds tight, as if she's holding back tears.

I let out a groan and step off of Hawkeye. With my head bowed, I trudge over to her. We both stop a foot away from each other. She looks me right in the eye and stretches her hand out.

I feel a spark as her skin touches my muzzle. Something happens then. It just becomes too much. My heart clenches and my hind legs collapse underneath me. I stiffly lay down in front of her, and then rest my head on my paws in a submissive form.

"Oh, Zoey." I hear her whisper and let out a whine.

Suddenly, the agents start closing in around me and I jump to my feet, hackles raised and growling. They stop, and before they can do anything else, I barge through the crowd and run away.

Ten minutes later….

I find myself a nice shadowy area underneath a jet. Curled up, eyes closed, tail over snout, I'm willing with all my might for this day to just be a nightmare. A nightmare that's about to get worse.

My ears perk as footsteps approach me. I open my amber eye and see Madison standing in front of me. She kneels down and asks cautiously, "Zoey?"

Sighing, I sit back on my haunches and morph back into a human. My step-sister silently sits next to me.

Silence

I wait anxiously for her to say something. Inwardly, my stomach is knotting up in nervousness. Is she going to yell at me? Is she going to be totally pissed off? Is she going to, like, disown me as her sister? And where the heck is Mom?

"How come _you_ get to be a wolf?"

I blink at her in surprise. Then crack a smile. Which goes away quickly.

"I'm sorry."

Madison gives me a sidelong look. Her face is full of mixed emotions, but sorrow stands out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because…" I pause. Why does this have to be so hard? "Because I didn't want you to see me as different. I just wanted to be your normal sister, not your friend who's a freak. I just- I don't know what to do now."

I don't tell her that her dad also made me promise not to tell her. I don't want to make things more complicated than they already are.

Madison puts her hand on my shoulder. "Zoey," she says seriously, "I don't care if you're a mutant. We'd be friends even if you were a dog, or a cat, or a horse. I care about who you are, not what you are. Except if you were a snake," I raise an eyebrow and she shudders, "I hate snakes. Anyway, believe me when I say this," she looks directly into my eyes, "YOU ARE THE FRIGGIN BEST SISTER AND FRIEND EVER!"

I yelp in surprise and fall onto my back. Madison falls onto her own back, laughing her ass off. I lift myself up with my hands and let out a laugh, my eyes wide.

"Okay, okay!" I laugh, "Apparently I'm an awesome person!"

"Hell yeah!"

We both collapse into a fit of laughs and giggles. Madison is laughing so hard that she has tears running down her cheeks.

I know what you're thinking. It wasn't _that_ funny. But the mood ten seconds ago was so freaking depressing that anything good is worth laughing at.

When we finally calm down, I'm gasping for breath and Madison has dry salty cheeks.

"Alright," I gasp, and then spazz my hands, "Okay, shut up Zoey! We gotta figure out where we are, and why the hell we're here!"

"Ooh! I know!" Madison raises her hand like a school girl. I grin and say with a British accent, "Yes, Miss Colt, what is the answer?"

"Ooh, ooh! So, apparently they found out you were the wolf, and then, like, this government group called SHIELD wanted to get you because you are an illegal mutant or something-"

"WHAT?" I interrupt, "How is being _me _illegal? I can understand emos, or, like, Miley Cyrus, but _moi? _That's not fair! Being an awesome person like me should be an honor!"

I crack my knuckles, "Alright, that Director Whatever guy and I are going to have some words. No one says something like that and gets away with it!" Madison rolls her eyes, laughs, and then leads the way.

* * *

"SHIELD stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." My head thunks on the table. Next to me, Madison groans, "I blame myself for asking."

"Sounds like someone really wanted their initials to spell shield." I snort rudely. We're sitting at a big table with the Avengers- minus Thor and Hawkeye. Apparently we're in main area of the 'Helicarrier' called the bridge. Or something like that. They all stare at us and I lift my head, "So, again, why am I here?"

Director Fury (who's name I laughed at earlier) stops pacing and replies, "We need to know how you got your powers and if you are an ally or a threat."

I raise my eyebrows, "If I say I'm an ally, can you get these handcuffs off me?"

"Can't you just break them off?"

"...that is so true."

This time it's a bit harder, but I manage to break them. Madison looks at me with wide eyes and I offer the broken handcuffs to her, which she takes and starts doing this and that to it. Yeah, they put them on me a while ago. A bit roughly if you ask me.

"There goes another pair." Fury mutters under his breath. Fortunately, with my super hearing, I'm able to hear him. "Hey, you asked!" I retort.

Suddenly, the door swings open and Hawkeye walks in with a cast on his leg, a gauze on his shoulder, and to top it all off, a limp. Wow, talk about a dramatic entrance.

He takes a seat and gazes at me with cold eyes. I grin boldly and give him a wink. Tony Stark laughs and another guy, who I think is the Hulk, smiles. Finally, Hawkeye turns to Fury and asks, "Is she a threat or not?"

"Hopefully not."

A woman with a brunette bun and a serious expression puts a few papers in front of me. "Everything will be explained as you read through." Fury says, "If you sign it and agree with the policy, we'll let you go. If not...well, we'll get to that later. If you have any questions, just ask."

I glance at the papers, and then say, "I have a question."

"Yes?"

"...Do I _have_ to read this?"

He looks completely unamused and growls (metaphorically), "Yes."

Taking a deep, dramatic breath, I lift the papers. Immediately, I slap them back down and groan, "Ugh, too many words! Madison," I push them towards her and put my head on my arms, "read."

A few people laugh and Madison rolls her eyes, "What's the magic word?"

"Umm….bacon?"

"No."

"Hmm….Angus?"

"No."

"Angus _Beef_?"

"It's not food."

"Oh, um...SHIELD? Avengers?"

"Yup, okay I'll read." People laugh again and I catch the sight of Hawkeye smiling a bit. Good, no hard feelings.

Madison begins to read, but then is interrupted by Hawkeye. "Wait a minute," he says, "Why does her dad want you to protect her? I mean, there are a lot of people with military dads, but I'm pretty sure they don't have a wolf mutant protecting them."

I spoke too soon.

For a moment, I stay silent, and then attempt to lie, "Er...I guess he just really cares about her? Not that other military dads don't care about their children! But...um...I guess he's overprotective?" I end slowly.

Hawkeye's gaze hardens again and he crosses his arms, "I don't believe you." All eyes are on me, now, including Madison's.

"Er...um…"

"Zoey," Madison says tiredly, "No more secrets. Please?"

I sigh, giving in, "Alright, but you guys better swear not to tell her dad." They all put their hands over their hearts and swear not to tell, and then I start explaining, "Well, first of all, Madison and I are very close."

"Obviously." Tony snorts and I shake my head, "No, like, weirdly close. We can, like, feel each other's feelings if they're strong enough. Madison, apparently, can learn really quickly. Like, faster than most people. Also, she's kinda like a Jabberjay. That's why Mason wanted me to protect her."

"A Jabberjay?" Madison echoes, "Wow, really? That's awesome! I could be, like, a superspy! Hey, hey, can we, like, read each other's minds if we're so close?"

I tilt my head, "I don't think so. I mean, if we could, then I would've guessed the magic word right-"

_Hey, wolfy, can ya hear me?_

"WHOA!"

"What?" everyone asks and I put two fingers to my temple.

_Madison, is that you?_

_Omg, no freaking way!_

_This is AWESOME!_

"I can hear you in my mind!" Madison exclaims out loud. Everyone looks confused and a few agents next to the bridge glance over at us.

"What do you mean?" Fury asks, "And what's a Jabberjay?"

"Hunger Games thing, shh!" I say quickly and then think, _Dude, do you realize how much awesome stuff we can do with these powers?_

Madison replies, _Hell yeah! Forget what dad says, this is great!_

"What's happening in there?" Tony asks warily.

"Zoey! Madison!" Fury barks (again, metaphorically) and we both snap to attention, "Please explain what a Jabberjay is. And how you can hear each other in your minds."

"Ooh!" Tony suddenly raises his hand like a school boy, "I know what a Jabberjay is!"

"Yeeea, Hungah Gaeumes!" I woot and we fist pump.

Which earns us a few strange looks.

"A Jabberjay is basically a bird that can record entire human conversations and mimic things." Madison explains and I add, "And you are _not_ going to use her powers for _anything_. It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen."

Fury raises his hands, "I never said we were going to. You guys are too young, anyway."

"Uh huh." I say, "You better- ACHOO!"

I suddenly sneeze. Originally, my head was aiming for my elbow. But the table is higher than normal tables, given that only grown-ups use it. So, my forehead collides with the edge of the table so hard that the impact causes the table to shake.

Of course, Madison bursts out laughing, along with Tony and some of the others *cough-Hawkeye-cough*. I get a warm, fuzzy feeling and I assume that it's Madison's feeling.

I hope she can feel my pain.

Thankfully, kind Captain America checks to see if I'm okay, which I am. I guess.

"Thanks, Mr…?"

"Steve Rogers, ma'-"

Suddenly there's a loud snap and Madison, who was still laughing, falls backwards as her chair breaks. Still, she keeps laughing and now everybody is.

"Fury!" Tony gasps, "We've gotta have these kids come over more often!"

Director Fury quickly regains his 'serious adult' look and settles us down.

Madison doesn't get up, though. "Just toss the papers down here." she says and I forcefully throw them at her face.

"Ow! Really, Zoey, a papercut on my nose?"

"Yeah."

_Gee, thanks, Zoey._

_You're never gonna leave me alone now, are you?_

_Nope. You can never get rid of me. I'm your worst nightmare, MWAHAHAHAHAHA!_

_Just read the stupid papers_

_Fine_

A few minutes later, while I press an ice pack on my head, Madison exclaims, "Oh my God, Zoey, you are so lucky!"

* * *

Guess what?

I am now an Avenger! Woo hoo!

Yeah, all I had to do was sign this contract that said blah, blah, blah, whatever. I learned all of the Avengers' names, also. Clint, Steve, Natasha, Tony, Bruce (Madison and I both squealed 'BRUCE THE SHARK!' when he introduced himself. Finding Nemo!) and Thor, even though he wasn't even there and I already knew his name 'cause, you know, he's a GOD.

Fury never told me his first name, though. Makes me think it's 'top secret'. Or just really lame, embarrassing, or stupid for a serious guy like him.

Anyway, when Madison found out I was joining the team, she became _really _jealous. And since I can feel her feelings, and nobody likes the feeling of jealousy, I convinced them to let her tag along on missions. Only when I'm there, though. And hey, a human recorder that can also learn fast and climb like a squirrel could come in handy, hm?

So now we are on our way back to California…..where Mom is freaking out. Yeah, apparently Natasha just knocked her out and left her there….

Wish me luck!

End of Part One

**Yay, part 1 is over! Now we can have some _real _fun! Part 2 will be WAY longer than part 1 was. Anyway...**

**WHY NO REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER?! U PEOPLE MAKE ME CRY! IT WAS A CLIFFIE AND EVERYTHING! NO QUESTIONS, NO BASHING, NADA?!**

***takes a deep breath and controls myself* Sorry about that. I like reviews. Reviews make me happy.**

**But, hey, this story got pretty popular fast! Thanks for all the favs and follows! **

**Again, if you wanna see a pic of Zoey and Madison, just go to my profile.**

**That's about it. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! **

**-Flaming Crow**


	6. Part 2, Chapter 1

**Hey, here's the first chapter of Part 2! So, now we're getting into Zoey's first mission with the Avengers. I hope you enjoy!**

**I only own my characters**

**The title of this song is from Imagine Dragons 'Cha-Ching'**

Chapter Six

'Till we grow older

_Two years later…._

I sit on the edge of the couch, glaring at the boys yelling at the TV. Their parents brought them here because we're having a 'grown-up' party. Of course, they just had to bring their kids (which are mostly boys) along because they think we're 'friends'.

I remember what had happened when Mom said that. Madison had snorted in my head, _As if!_

Then I had started giggling while Mom looked at me as if I were crazy.

We recently bought a Wii, along with a sword fighting game. The boys are obsessed with it. I scowl and shake my head.

The end of my black and turquoise dress flutters as Finn trots over and puts his forepaws on my lap. He's gotten a bit less crazy, but he's still pup-like. "Zoey," he whines, "They're so loud. Can I go somewhere soundproof?"

I huff and kiss his head, "Try the attic."

He nods and jumps off. Before he walks away, though, he looks over his shoulder and says, "And Angus's hips are aching again. Can you give him some medicine later?"

I sigh and nod. Angus's age has been taking its toll on him. Now he has hip arthritis and the cold of winter isn't making things easier. But the vet said that he's got a few years left.

I continue to glare at the boys, cross-legged, arms folded. Huh! They just act like when they leave everything will magically clean itself up. But _nooo_, guess who has to clean it all up?

Yep

_Moi_

I glance up at the sound of a very feminine huff. The sound of an offended missy. The sound of Chelsea. You guys remember her, right? The worker that treats Madison and I like babies, which can be good and bad at times.

Chelsea walks over grumpily and flops down next to me. "Men!" she spits.

"Boys!"

"Tell me about it!."

I look at her. Must've been another failed attempt at a boyfriend.

Suddenly, one of the boys defeats the other and yells out in victory. I clench my hands into fists, imagining tossing them around like squirrels in my wolf form.

I stand up and turn to Chelsea, "Excuse me, but I have to end this. These boys need to be reminded what real girl power is."

She grins maliciously, and I take off my shawl and toss it onto the couch. Politely, I raise my hand and ask, "I would like to fight the best player."

The room goes quiet.

Then, a boy named Caine, who I assume is the best player, steps forward and hands me a Wii remote. "I'll go easy on you." he winks and I roll my eyes, "Hit me with your best shot." Damn, now I have that song stuck in my head!

Caine clicks play and the battle begins.

"Hya!" I whack him with my virtual sword.

"Huh!"

"Gruhh!"

"Whoa, wait-!"

Everybody looks at me and Caine, my hands on my hips, chin high in triumph. Caine narrows his eyes, "Okay. Let's play like that."

Whack

Swipe

Smack

Stab (ew)

Caine curses loudly as the girls cheer and the boys boo. The girls chant, "Girl power! Girl power!" (**a/n sorry for all the guys reading this, but this happened to me once and it was awesome! A total Zoey moment!**)

I snap my fingers in front of my face and swagger out of the room.

_Hey Zoey, _Madison suddenly thinks, _you might want to come see this. BTW that was awesome!_

_Wait, _I reply, putting two fingers to my temple, _I have to give Angus his medicine first._

_No, seriously, come to the door now. It's You-Know-Who!_

_What? Quick, get out your magic wand and yell, "Expelliarmus!"_

"ZOEY!"

A voice suddenly rings through the house and I groan. Huffing with annoyance, I drag myself over to the door and guess who's there. The Avengers. Again. The only difference is that Thor and an agent, uh, Coulson, I think it was, are here.

Tony pushes past them and swings his arm over my shoulder, "What's up, Zoey? Tell your Uncle Tony how things have been." Uncle? Well, yeah, I guess. He doesn't seem like the father or brother type.

Agent Coulson gives him a small glare and says, "We're not here to talk casual. Zoey, we need you to come back to SHIELD headquarters for a while. We'll explain in-"

"-a more private place." I finish for him and stick my tongue out. He looks bewildered for a moment before smiling.

Thor steps forward and asks in his weird accent, "I mean not to be rude, but are you certain tis is the child you spoke of?"

"Child?!" I exclaim, more to Agent Coulson than Thor, "Uh, hello man? We're teens now."

Hawkeye (who I now know as Clint) looks me up and down before snorting, "Barely."

I glare at him and he smirks.

Madison gives a little hop and asks excitedly, "Can I come?" Agent Coulson hesitates, glancing at the two SHIELD agents/Avengers. I put my arm around her and look Coulson right in the eye, "She's coming with us."

* * *

_Tomorrow_

The next morning, Madison and I pack our bags with all the essentials: clothes, shoes, jewelry, electronics, electronics chargers, candy, toiletries, and a chew toy and dog treats in case I wolf out. It was Madison's idea.

Our mission: go back to the place I was experimented on and 'see how bad things are getting'. I don't like the idea of going back there. But I'm willing to do it as long as I get to chew up some scientists.

Of course, Mom knows all about this, and about me.

After a nice breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, and Finn and I's beloved bacon, there's a knock on the door. Mom opens it and in comes Agents Coulson, Romanoff, and Barton.

Agent Coulson walks up to Madison and I, "Ready to go?"

I gaze around, looking for anything that we missed, and then get an idea and pick up Finn. "Can I bring little Finney Finn along?" I ask the agent innocently, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"No."

I frown, "Dog hater." and put Finn down.

Agent Coulson rolls his eyes and leads the way outside. "Bye, girls!" Mom says, hugging us while trying to choke back tears, "Behave and do everything they say, unless, you know, it's something really bad. Then, Zoey, I give you permission to rip their heads off."

Madison and I laugh and hug her tightly. Behind me, I hear Clint mutter, "Gee, thanks, mom."

"I love you!" Mom calls to us as we walk away.

"Be safe, pup!" Angus barks.

"Zoey!" I hear pawsteps behind me and suddenly Finn appears in front of me, "Zoey, listen! I have something really important to tell you!"

I tilt my head and kneel down, "What is it?"

He puts his muzzle next to my ear and whispers, "Get me some donuts. You're my only hope!"

I laugh and shake my head. Not long ago, Finn had snatched a donut from Mom when she dropped it and ate one for the first time in his life. Now, he's been doing everything he can to get another one.

"Sorry, Finn, but you know that donuts are bad for you." I say, standing up. "They are for you, too!" Finn argues, standing up.

I walk after the agents, saying, "It's different. I'm a human, so I won't die as quickly as you would if you ate a lot. And-"

I stop when I see the agents staring at me as if I had lost my mind. "I can talk to dogs," I explain quickly, "Finn wanted a donut and I said no."

Then nod, but I can tell they're either a bit freaked out or think I'm mentally insane. Or that I'm just weird. Which I am.

A few minutes later, we reach a long black car with dark tinted windows. You know how some cars have this awful 'I'm too new' smell? Ya, well this car practically gave birth to all those cars.

Madison gags and I grimace.

_Disgusting! I'm not getting in there! _Madison thinks to me.

I reply, _Hey, who's the one with the sensitive nose here? Just get in. We'll open a window or something._

Madison makes no comment, but simply takes a deep breath before going inside. Natasha goes in the front with Phil (do you think he would taze me for calling him that?) while I go between Clint and Madison in the back.

As Clint sits down next to me and the car starts moving, I can't help but notice how well-muscled Clint's arms are. They're not insanely large like Thor's, more like 'slim but strong'. Ya, see, if I hug him, I wouldn't get crushed, but if I hug Thor-ha! That's a different story.

Clint catches me staring at him and glances at me. I quickly turn away, blushing but trying to act normal.

_Why are you feeling all fluffy fluffy?_

I roll my eyes in annoyance as Madison's voice enters my head.

_No reason. Shut up._

_Oh, you think Clint is hot, don't you?_

_No! I just noticed…_

_Wow, and here I was, thinking that you were a Cato girl._

_I am! _I argue in my head, _But, hey, he does kind of look like Alexander Ludwig!_

Next to me, Madison gives the slightest tilt of her head as she gazes out the window, _Hm, I guess. Sort of. Not really. Ooh! Idea, ding ding ding!_

_Oh no._

_Stick your head out the window like a dog!_

I jerk my head in surprise and raise my eyebrows at her. _Seriously? _

_Yeah! _She looks at me and gives me the puppy dog eyes, _Please? It'll be fun!_

Sighing, I unbuckle my seatbelt and stretch. _And for your information, _I add, _I am an Andrew Garfield girl. _

"What are you doing?" Clint asks and Madison rolls down the window.

I let my snout grow long and feel my ears stretch and push themselves higher on my head. My bones shift and black fur grows all over my body. Before I know it, I am the wolf again.

Scrambling to my paws, I wriggle my head out the window. Sheesh, I grew! I can barely fit in the car, and poor Madison and Clint and squashed up against me.

But OMG you guys should seriously stick your head out the window sometime!

The wind feels cold, but refreshing as it whistles in my ears. My face fur (lol) flattens against my head and I bark happily. Hahaha! This is totally awesome!

Instinctively, I stick my long pink tongue out and it flaps in the wind. Hahaha! Funny, but cold! I constantly flick my tongue in and out of my mouth, warming it up and then letting it get cold again. I stiffly shake out my mane. This will probably be funner in warmer weather.

Suddenly, I feel something hard against my tail and realize that it's wagging. It slaps hard against Clint's window, making a big THUMP every time.

I'm about to stick my head back in the car, when a big, dewy leaf collides with my face. Huffing with annoyance, I shake it off and it blows in the wind.

There's no risk of people seeing me, by the way. We don't reach the city for about five minutes. And it doesn't even look like we're heading there.

Up ahead, a family of deer prance by. Naturally, I start barking and howling in excitement.

CRASH!

Suddenly, my wagging tail meets air and Madison screams in my head, _Dude, you just broke the window!_

"These are supposed to be BULLETPROOF!" I hear Clint grumble loudly behind me. "Okay, Zoey!" Madison says, "I think that's enough. You can come back inside, now."

Regretfully, I scrunch up my shoulders and draw my head back. Only, I don't. I feel hard metal on the ends of my skull, and I can't pull my head back into the car. My eyes widen and I pull harder. Nothing. Again and again, I pull, twist, and squirm, trying to get back into the car.

_Madison! I'm stuck! _

I feel Madison's hands on my head and pull again.

_Just turn back into a human! _Madison says in my head. Of course. Once again, leave me to be the idiot. I am the official master at it.

Taking a deep breath, I pull and morph back into a human. I easily slip my head out of the window and fall backwards. Right onto Clint's lap.

_Oooooh! _Madison thinks to me.

Clint glares down at me and I grin sheepishly and give a little wave, "Heh heh, hello."

"Is she in?" Agent Coulson asks and rolls up the window.

I grab Madison's shoulder and pull myself back up. She grins and winks.

_Nice._

_Shut up! _I reply, _He's, like, 43, and I'm 14. Not happening!_

Madison says no more, but simply smirks and turns her head. I huff and buckle myself in again. "Don't do that again." Clint scolds and I roll my eyes, "No duh! My head nearly came off!"

_Aww, listen to you two! You're fighting like an old married couple!_

_SHUT UP! _I mentally scream at Madison.

Clint takes off his jacket (I try not to notice his muscles) and tries to cover the broken window. The cold wind simply causes his jacket to flap and I shiver.

"It's okay." Natasha says, "We're almost at the jet, anyway."

"Jet?" I echo, perking up, "Ooh, yay! Let's go flying!"

"Ooh, yay, let's go flying!" Madison mimics my voice perfectly. I glare at her, "Stop it."

"Stop it." Madison smirks and I groan. She does the same.

"Pleeeease don't, Madison!" I groan, which is changed to, "Pleeeease don't, Zoey!"

"Don't what?" I snap and she snaps back, "Don't what?"

"Oh, my God." I put my head in my hands. Madison mimics me.

"See, this is what happens when you have a Jabberjay for a sister." I tell Clint. He just watches us with a small smile on his face.

"See, this is what happens when you have a wolf mutant for a sister." Madison says in my voice.

I growl and clap my hand over her mouth. She covers mine. I feel something wet on my hand, and scowl.

"OW!" Madison yelps as I bite her finger. She pulls away and I rub my hand on my jacket. "What happened?" Natasha asks.

"Zoey bit me!" Madison tattletales.

"She _licked_ me!" I argue and Clint pinches the bridge of his nose. "See, this is why we don't have kids in SHIELD." he says.

Immediately, Madison and I both scream at him, "TEENS!"

"Okay!" Clint raises his hands in surrender. Just then, I feel the car slowing down and look out the window. Just as Nat said, there's a jet waiting for us on a dirt runway.

Clint unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the door. Immediately, I dart past him and shake like a dog. He raises an eyebrow at me and I stick out my tongue at him. Madison snickers behind me and says, "This is going to be one hell of a week."

**Oh, Madison. You have no idea. Mwahahahahaha!**

**R&R**

**-Flaming Crow**


	7. Part 2, Chapter 2

**Jeepers, 27 followers already?! I love you guys!**

**The title of this chapter is from Imagine Dragons 'Ready, Aim, Fire!'**

**I only own my characters**

Chapter Seven

Off in the distance there is resistance

Fury's POV

"When are they coming?" Stark asks while checking his watch. He and the rest of the Avengers are currently sitting at the meeting table near the bridge. Thor, who is inspecting a cell phone with great interest, replies loudly, "PATIENCE, MAN OF IRON. THE CHILD SHALL BE HERE SOON."

"You don't have to talk so loud, Thor." I growl.

The thunder god drops his voice to a whisper, "My apologies." I roll my eye.

Suddenly, there's a loud crashing noise outside, causing everyone to jump.

"Slow down!" Somebody yells faintly, only to be answered with, "I do what I want!" A bark comes right after that as loud thumps grow nearer.

CRASH!

The door swings open as a huge black wolf hybrid comes crashing in and skids to a halt. Madison is riding on her shoulders while clinging to her mane, laughing and giggling.

"We have arrived!"

Stark claps.

Agent Barton and Agent Coulson come running in, panting much like Zoey. Agent Coulson scowls, "Couldn't you have chosen someone who follows orders?"

"Hey!"

"Not you, Tony."

Madison climbs off Zoey as she trots up to the agent. Then, she does some sort of doggy talk to him, which sounds like a mix between a bark, whine, howl, and purr. Agent Coulson blinks and says, "I don't speak wolf, Zoey."

I run a hand over my face.

* * *

Zoey's POV

I huff and pad over to an empty seat next to Tony Stark. Well, almost empty. Taped on the back is a yellow piece of paper with the words, 'Saved for a wolf mutant'. I glance at Tony and he grins. Rolling my eyes, I morph into a human and sit down.

"Can we stop fooling around, now?" Fury asks impatiently.

Tony laughs and ruffles my hair, "Well, what do you expect from a kid. Or me. By the way," he looks me in the eye, "You can call me Uncle Tony now."

"Why?" I cock my head.

"Because you're the coolest, and frankly, only kid I really know. And I'm not really the father type. And I want a niece that can turn into a wolf."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Madison asks loudly, plopping down on a seat next to Steve. He glances at her and then says to all of us, "Guys, we need to focus."

"Sorry, ADHD," I reply quickly, sitting up straight. "Really?" Natasha raises an eyebrow in surprise. I look at her and then shake my head, "No….it was just an excuse." She sighs and rolls her eyes.

Then, the meeting starts.

Fury begins by talking about the mission, what we're going to do when we get there and what kind of info we should get and report back to base. As I listen, Madison says in my head, _Gee, they've really thought this out._

_Seems like it, _I reply, _What, they did think we couldn't come up with a good plan?_

_Could we have?_

I glance up at the ceiling, and then think back to her, _Um….no, probably not._

Suddenly, fingers snap in front of my face and I jerk back in surprise. I whip my head around and see everyone staring at me. "Wha?" I ask automaticly.

"Were you even paying attention?" Fury asks irritably and I blink, "Uhhhh…."

Everybody sighs, except Tony. "Don't worry, kid," he says, leaning back in his chair, "Neither was I."

Yep, he's my uncle now.

"We need you to tell us where the science lab was." Natasha says, "And what it was like. We need some information first before we can do anything."

I take a deep breath and summon up my memories, "It was on some sort of mountain. Like, big and snowy and stuff. The scientists all wore white coats and did science stuff on us." I pause and look at Fury expectantly. He blinks and replies duly, "We're going to need more than that."

"I was five, what do you expect?!" I snap and then rub my temple. I don't like even thinking about that horrible place. "Okay, umm…." I frown, "It was in California, I'm pretty sure, because I didn't have to fly to get to the vineyard. The lab was in a dark place, like a crevice _in_ the mountain, I think. Um...they kept us in really small cages that were smelly and rusty. I think there were other experiments, like humans mixed with birds or lizards, I don't know, but they were in another room probably. I just remember smelling them. Anyway, the ones in my room were all human/wolf mutants, like me. We would all turn out differently."

"What do you mean?" Clint interrupts, "What experiments did they do?"

"Er...they were really painful." I wince, remembering the torture I went through has a child, "The food and water had weird chemicals in them. And sometimes they put us in mazes, or did surgery, and they, like, dissected-"

"Ow!" Madison suddenly yelps and we all look over to her. She's clutching her head and squeezing her eyes shut.

"What's wrong?" Fury asks, walking over to her. She gasps and shakes her head, "It hurts! Zoey…."

Suddenly, her head snaps up and she stares at me, horror-struck, "You got your _brain_ dissected?!"

"What?" I exclaim, "How do you know?"

"So you _did!_" her eyes widen, and then she cringes, "Those guys are sick!"

"What-how...what's happening?" Clint asks loudly. I sigh and explain, "Long story short, Madison and I are really close. We can feel each other's feelings, talk telepathically, and _apparently _see memories." I give Madison a pointed look.

"Wait, so...you really...?" Tony raises his eyebrows at me and I nod, reaching behind me and rubbing the soft part of my head. A thin scar lies there, hidden by my dark hair.

He shakes his head vigorously, "That's gross! Disgusting! Who the hell do these people think they are?! This isn't right."

"Obviously." Steve says, "Psychopathic scientists are dissecting little kids' brains, for crying out loud!"

"I am confused." Thor states, and Bruce, who I totally forgot was here, gestures him to come a bit away from the group. While he explains the situation to the Asgardian, Fury asks, "Alright. We've established that these people are crazy. Anything else?"

"Hmm…" I rub my mouth and bite the inside of my cheek, "Not all of us were humans. I mean, at first, of course. Some of us were wolves that were injected with human DNA, and others were humans injected with wolf DNA. Uhh, and I remember once they gave one wolf puppy that was just born to the mutant next to me. It seemed normal enough, but when it drank milk from the mutant, it must've reacted badly to it due to the mixed blood, because it started throwing up and died."

"Aww!" Madison pouts angrily, "Can we just go and kill these mo-"

"Shhhhhhuut up, Maddie." I interrupt her before she can curse, "Don't worry, we're going to. Hmmm...what else? Uh, we were like our own little pack, all of the wolf mutants. We, like, kept each other sane, and we gave each other names. Mine was Guitian. My friend Faolan said ...Oh!"

I perk up, suddenly remembering, "Faolan! He was this wolf with human DNA in the cage next to me! He was practically my brother. I remember he would comfort me when I was sad, or after an experiment, or when the scientists wanted to take me out." I turn to Fury and ask with happy stupidness, "Can we get him out first? Pleeeease?"

He blinks and then nods, "Once we have an effective plan, then yes, we'll get _all_ of them out."

I duck my head, "Thanks."

"THESE MORTALS DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE!" Thor suddenly comes up behind me and slams his fist down on the table, making everyone jump, "I SAY WE INVADE THEIR CAMP AND FIGHT LIKE BILGESNIPE!"

"I like that plan!" I say with loud enthusiasm and jump up on my chair, "Let's go storm the castle!" I punch the air and my chair slowly starts to spin.

"I'm surprised you even know that movie." Uncle Tony says, looking up at me. Thor grins and ruffles my hair, "You shall be a great warrior one day, young Midgardian."

I raise a finger and say, "Two things: one, don't touch my hair, and two, _obviously_!"

"I don't understand why teenage girls don't like people ruffling their hair." Uncle Tony comments as I sit down, "Pepper loves it when I play with hers'."

"Who's Pepper?" Madison asks curiously.

"My girlfriend."

"Ugh," I snort, spinning in my chair, "I'm not getting a boyfriend 'till I'm, like, 17, cuz honestly, I'm most likely _not_ going to marry anyone I meet before."

"Uh, you're most likely _not_ going to marry _anyone_ until we meet them first." Uncle Tony says. I give him a confused look and he replies, "Hey, we're your teammates now. _And_ I'm your uncle." I roll my eyes at that, "You've got to deal with us, now. But don't worry, it gets easier."

"No…" Natasha says, slowly shaking her head, "No, it doesn't."

"What I want to know…" Bruce says, walking closer to the table and getting us back on track, "Is why your father-" he points a pen at Madison, "-didn't arrest the people when he got Zoey. I mean, he _is _part of the military. Shouldn't he have done something about this?"

"He said he made a deal with them." I answer, picking at my nails. Bruce raises his eyebrows and I shrug, "That's all he said."

"Hey!" Uncle Tony suddenly speaks up and we all look at him, "If you're part dog-"

"Wolf."

"Whatever. Does that mean that if I scratch your lower back then your foot will shake?" I shake my head, edging away from him.

"Of course not, that's just a-" Suddenly, Clint, who is sitting next to me, spins my chair around and Tony-

"SWEET BABY JESUS, IT DOES EXIST!" I scream and everybody laughs as my foot shakes, "AHH! PLEZ STAPH! I'M GONNA PEE-HE-HE!"

"Stark!" Fury barks, "Enough."

Uncle Tony pouts but stops scratching me. "Gee, can't you take a laugh, Eye-Patch?" he whines.

Fury scowls but ignores him. After a few minutes, the meeting continues. Eventually, we figure that the 'snowy mountains' that I mentioned is some place called _Snow Mountain Wilderness_. Weird name, I know.

Then, we have a quick fifteen minute break.

During this, Madison and I somehow manage to break a whirly chair (again), flick a pen at Fury, in which it hit his eyepatch, have a strange conversation with Thor about Bilgesnipe and turkeys, and, I don't even know or care about how this happened, sent Agent Ward to the hospital.

Fury was seriously considering having two agents following us wherever we went. Which led to us screaming at him that we didn't need babysitters anymore.

Then, the next meeting begins.

And let me tell you, it was B-O-R-I-N-G!

I don't even bother trying to understand what they are talking about. It's too much smartness. I don't speak smart.

_Hey, Maddie, _I think, _look at me._

My step-sister and I look at each other. She widens her eyes and I roll mine. Then, she puts an imaginary gun to her head and pulls the 'trigger'.

Uncle Tony and I burst out laughing at the same time. Like, full out chortles, whoops, and snorts.

The others look- well, some glare *cough* Fury *cough*- at us in confusion and we quickly stop.

I elbow Uncle Tony in the ribs. "Grow up, doofus." I tease.

He gives me the funniest look and I crack up all over again.

* * *

Steve's POV

I have to admit, the meeting _was_ kind of boring. I mean, it was important, but I think that they forget sometimes that I've been frozen for 70 years.

Eventually, Madison went to bed, but Zoey insisted that she could stay awake. It kind of confused me, because she had seemed so bored earlier. Anyways, she did stay awake- for about an hour.

Now, it's eleven o'clock, and I'm gently nudging her awake.

"Zoey." I say softly, "Zoey, you should go to bed."

The little wolf mutant stirs and lets out a dog-like yawn, earning a few quiet laughs from the team. Without opening her eyes, she sleepily turns to me.

"Carry me." she mumbles childishly.

All of the Avengers, and, as much as they tried to hide it, a few SHIELD agents, look at my bewildered expression. I blink and gaze at Zoey, who suddenly seems small and fragile, like...a kid.

Then, I sigh and scoop her up. Her arms instinctively wrap around my neck and she buries her face into my shoulder.

Natasha cocks her head and smiles, "Aww."

I feel heat rising to my cheeks and Stark sighs dramatically, "Fine. You can be the grandpa. Natasha, you're the mom and Clint, you're the dad. Bruce and I are the uncles. And Thor, you can be the foreign cousin."

I roll my eyes and walk to Zoey and Madison's room. Opening the door with my index finger and thumb, I hobble over to their bed. Setting her down awkwardly next to her sister, I tuck her in. Then, before I leave, I kiss her forehead and whisper, "Goodnight, Guitain."

Quietly, I make my way out of the room.

Though, when I close the door, I swear I hear Zoey whisper back, "See you tomorrow, Gramps."

**Hi**

**R&R**

**Yeah, that's about it**

**-Flaming Crow**


	8. Part 2, Chapter 3

**Hmm... not much to say.**

**The title of this chapter is from Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 'Bad Reputation'**

**I only own my characters**

Chapter Eight

I don't give a damn about my bad reputation

"Umph!"

"Phh!"

"Uh!"

"Jeez!"

"Ow! Stop, like, trying to hit my face!"

"Me? You're the one almost poking my eyes out!"

I grunt and try to block Madison's hand from hitting my face as we play Slide. We're up to fifteen now, but things are getting a little intense. She says _I'm_ the one almost hitting her, when _she's_ the one pushing my hands back. I'm just defending myself.

"Fifteen, sixteen…" I mutter as we slap and clap our hands, "One, two, three, four-"

"Guys," I jump at the voice and Madison smacks my face. She cracks up and I scowl. Spinning around in my chair, I see Agent Coulson looking down at me, "You two are disturbing the agents."

"So?" I ask, raising an eyebrow, "Tell them to put on headphones and listen to music."

"I suggest 8tracks!" Madison says loudly as she spins around on her chair, earning a few weird looks from various agents.

I frown and snap, "Pandora!"

"8tracks!"

"Pandora!"

"8tracks!"

"Be quiet, or go to your room!" Fury suddenly snaps. Madison and I look at him incredulously, and then burst out laughing. He growls, much like I do when I'm a wolf, and now almost every agent is gazing at us like we're crazy.

"How old do you think we are?!" I gasp, tears running down my cheeks, "Eight?"

Madison snorts, "Dude, nowadays, being grounded in your room is nothing when you have books, a phone, and a computer in there!"

We both laugh for a few more seconds and then catch our breath. Looking exasperated, Fury says, "Well, then play a quieter game. Meanwhile, Agent Coulson will go order some toys or books or just _something_ to keep you two occupied and silent."

Coulson looks a little startled, but then nods and walks away. Before he leaves the room, though, he looks over his shoulder and says, "And, guys, you should really try iHeartRadio." We both crack up, but when he's gone, we fall silent and I mutter to Madison, "That was weird."

She nods, and then I ask, "Truth or Dare?"

"Oh, lord." she mutters and I grin wickedly, "Truth."  
"Okay…" I look up at the ceiling, thinking, "Okay, for this round, Kill, Marry, or Kiss."

Madison groans and I laugh, "Thor, Tony, or Steve?"

She puts and hand on her head, and then says slowly, "I would...kill Tony….Marry Steve...and-"

Our eyes widen at the same time and we both yell, "No! Noooo! No no no no…"

She laughs and then says, "Okay, okay, Kill Thor, Marry Steve, and….yeah…" I snort with laughter.

My step-sister shakes her head. Then, she perks up, "Okay, now _your_ turn!"

I nod and she asks, "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

After a few moments of thinking, she grins and says, "I dare you befriend a random SHIELD agent. Right now."

I raise an eyebrow, "Phh! That's easy!"

Getting up, I stroll over to the railing separating the board room to the computer agents. Gazing around, I pick a random agent and slip through the railing. She looks up as I near her, "Hey."

The unfortunate agent blinks, "Hi."

"I'm Zoey. You may have heard of me. Wolf mutant, broke out of SHIELD prison, totally awesome, in the new mission with the Avengers, and current nuisance on the Helicarrier."

"Uh...yeah…."

I look at her expectantly.

"Er...I'm Agent Walker."

"Nice to meet you."

"Er…"

Suddenly, Fury's voice booms behind me, "Zoey!" I turn around and he continues, "What are you doing?"

"Madison and I are playing Truth or Dare." I answer simply and he rolls his eye.

"Go play it somewhere else."

I nod and quickly turn to Agent Walker, "Hey, you're my friend right?"

She gives me a weird look and nods. I grin and punch the air, "Yes! Madison!"

Madison looks over the railing, about to crack up, "Yeah?"

"Truth or Dare?"

I walk back to her and slip between the bars. "Dare." she replies.

"I dare you to steal Director Fury's gun." Madison and Fury look at each other at the same time, and then my step-sister moves towards him.

"Nooo." he warns and she stops, "Go play somewhere else. And I cancel that dare."

"Aww." Madison pouts, but walks back to me, "C'mon, let's go explore."

I smile and together we walk out of the room. "Don't do anything stupid!" Fury calls after us. "Don't count on it!" I call back and Madison snickers. I hear him mutter something inaudible, but quickly walk out of earshot.

"I think he can be the strict teacher that hates and loves us at the same time." I say to Madison and she gives me a confused look. Oh, right. She wasn't there.

"Clint's our daddy," I explain, earning an even more confused look, "And Natasha's our mommy. Tony and Bruce are our uncles. Thor's our foreign cousin and Steve's our grandpa."

She blinks, and then says, "Ohhhhhh, I get it!"

I grin and we continue walking in silence. A few moments later, Madison pipes up, "And Agent Hill can be our aunt."

"On Natasha's side." I turn my head and she nods, "Obviously. Maybe Agent Coulson can be her cousin?"

I scrunch up my eyebrows, and then reply, "Nah, he's more of the uncle type."

"Maria and Phil," Madison says, giving me an incredulous look, "_siblings_? No, he'll be Bruce, Tony, and Clint's brother."

"Who's going to be my brother?" Uncle Tony suddenly walks out of a room with a big window. We both stop and I reply, "We're discussing our family tree. Agent Coulson is your brother along with Bruce and Clint."

"Ahh, so you _did _hear that." he grins, twirling a pointed, pen-like object in his hand. I look through the glass and ask, "What are you doing?"

"Come in and see for yourself." Uncle Tony invites, opening the door for us. Madison and I look at each other, and then shrug and walk inside. Hmm...looks kinda like a science lab. And we all know how much I hate those.

The inside is mostly gray and white, ya know, the usual lifeless dull colors. A bunch of thingamabobs are splayed out everywhere, making the place look like an organized mess. Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense. Shut up.

Bruce, who is poking at a cool computer screen, looks up as we enter, "Hello, girls."

"Heeeeey!" we both reply at the same time. We look at each other and then start laughing. Bruce raises an eyebrow, and then turns back to his work.

"Weren't you hanging out near the bridge?" he asks, not looking up. I nod, "We were, but-"

"Let me guess," Uncle Tony interrupts, "Fury kicked you out?"

I grin and nod. Uncle Tony scoffs and walks towards Bruce, "The guy can't take a laugh." Bruce glances at his science bro and replies halfheartedly, "He's a very busy man. I'm sure he laughs when he's not working. And, let's keep in mind that he's probably never had any experience with kids."

"Teens." Madison, who is playing with something at the edge of the table, snaps.

The scientist and inventor look at us, and Bruce asks, "How old are you?"

"15." I reply smartly and Uncle Tony snorts disbelievingly. I grit my teeth, and then say, "Fine…..14."

"Barely teenagers." Bruce says, looking back down at his work, "Enjoy being considered a kid, while you still can."

I can't think of a comeback, so I just join Maddie in poking around and exploring. "So, whatcha doing?" I ask after a few moments, looking at a strange symbol on a piece of paper.

"We're keeping in touch with the SHIELD agents that are in _Snow Mountain_ searching for the...um...science lab." Uncle Tony says, "They're using metal detectors, radioactive sensors, gamma radiation- well, high-tech stuff that involves us."

I blink and then turn away, "Well, that's boring." I walk towards the door and open it, "C'mon Madison, we're moving on."

Madison skips after me as I walk back into the hallway. "C'ya later!" I call over my shoulder as the door closes. There's a muffled reply, but I can see Uncle Tony waving behind the glass window.

We continue to walk down the hallway, occasionally poking our noses through doors, and a few times we walk down a different hallway when a fork comes. At one point, I quietly open a door with loud noises screeching from the inside and see a bunch of...electricians? I don't know, but they're all crowded around a small table. I blink and manage to catch a glimpse of something grey and thick. Hmm...must be working on a new weapon.

I back out of the room and Madison raises an eyebrow. "New weapon." I say and she perks up, "Ooh, cool."

"Hey!"

We both whirl around to see Clint….er…. Daddy, striding towards us. Nah, I'm just gonna call him Clint.

"What are you doing?" the archer asks when he reaches us. For some reason, I step in front of Madison and snap, "What are _you_ doing?"

He gives me a hard look and replies, "_I'm_ going to the training room. You, on the other hand, shouldn't be here."

"All right," Madison says, hopping up beside me, "Then we'll just go with you."

Clint groans and pinches the bridge of his nose, then sighs and looks up, "Guys, you need to remember that this place was made for adults. You could get hurt if you just waltz around all willy nilly."

"And if we go with you," I counter, "We'll be under your super- or, shall I say- hawk vision and you'll make sure we don't get into trouble."

Clint opens his mouth to argue, but then closes it and narrows his eyes. Finally, a few moments later, he sighs, "Fine. But stay by my side the whole time and don't touch anything without asking me first."

"Yes daddy." Madison and I both say at the same time. Our 'dad' rolls his eyes and turns around, "Just follow me."

I fist pump Madison and skip after Clint. We follow him through many twists and turns, through doors and a bunch of other stuff until I lose track of where we're going. Then, five minutes later, we come to a stop in front of a steel door.

Before entering, Clint turns around and raises a finger, "If you-"

"We _know_," Madison groans, "We'll get in trouble or die or blah blah blah- can we go in now?"

The archer sighs and then opens the door.

Inside…..wow.

I'll just quickly name all the things I see: combat training ring, weights, those big things that football players push, an obstacle course, a bunch of archery targets and bows and arrows, and...er...yoga. I blink in surprise.

"Whoa, daddy." Madison breathes, eyes wide. Next to us, Clint lets out a laugh at our expressions. "Come on." he says, walking towards the archery stuff. We follow him eagerly.

When we reach the archery area, Clint makes his way towards a black rack. He picks up something, and then turns around. A high tech bow lays in his hands.

He grabs a few arrows and puts them in a quiver on his back. Then, he starts walking towards a red line on the floor. Of course, like ducklings to their mother, we follow him, but he raises a hand, "Stay there unless you want to be shot." Okay. I said _we_ were like ducklings- I didn't say _he_ was like a mother. Or a duck.

Madison looks at me and I shrug. We take a few steps backwards and then watch as Clint locks an arrow in his bow. The archer pulls back the string and aims for the target. He narrows his eyes, and then releases the string. There's a loud CLAP as the arrow hits the target dead in the center.

Madison and I applaud.

"That was cool!" my sister calls and Clint smirks. I can tell that he doesn't usually have an enthusiastic audience. But then, Madison asks, "Can I try?" and I do a face-palm. Oh Lord.

"Er…" Clint stampers, not knowing what to do when he has a cute 14 year old making puppy eyes at him. When he has no experience with kids at all.

"Um…..I guess…." he finally concludes, "But it's a little hard."

Madison waves him off and runs to the rack and grabs an arrow, "Don't worry! I learn quicker than others, remember?" Running back, she asks, "Okay, what do I do?"

"Well, at least get a smaller bow first." Clint says, moving to put his away. He picks up the smallest one and gives it to Madison. Then, he leads her past the red line and closer to the target, "Since you're an amature, we'll start out closer."

"How do you know about my skill in archery?" my step-sister asks, frowning up at him. He raises an eyebrow and asks, "Alright, how many times have you shot an arrow?"

"...uh…..never?"

I stifle a laugh and turn around. I look at all the other stuff, and then notice that a certain red-haired mother of mine is in the combat ring. I watch as she pins a large man to the ground and smile.

Looking over my shoulder, I see Madison struggling to lock her arrow in her bow. Suddenly, it slips out of her fingers and clatters on the floor. Clint looks like he's trying to be patient, but ultimately failing.

Hmm….well, they seem busy, and I'm bored, sooo…

I turn back around and walk across the training room. _My_ target: the combat ring.

"Hey," I greet as I near and Natasha turns her head towards me. "What are you doing here?" she asks. I jerk my thumb over my shoulder to Clint and Madison, "Daddy's trying to teach his Jabberjay of a daughter how to shoot an arrow."

She smiles and sighs, "You're really sticking with this family thing?"

"Hey, it's fun." I reply, "And it's not like I have a real family anyway."

She blinks, and then asks, "So, do you know who your real family is?"

I shake my head and step into the ring, "Nope. I've never really thought about them. The Pack was my family back at the lab. Maybe after all of this I can find my real family."

"Would you go with them?" Natasha asks as she adjusts her punching gear on her hands. I tilt my head, "What do you mean?"

I walk over to a gym bag, which I think is hers, and strap on some gloves as well. Natasha doesn't comment, but simply replies, "If you found your family, would you go live with them?" I pause and straighten up, thinking. Turning to her, I cock my head the other way and reply after a moment, "Honestly….probably not. I mean, it would be nice to know who they are, but I would never leave Madison."

The assassin nods and we face each other, putting our fists up. I grin and Natasha says, "I'll go easy on you."

I snort, "Don't worry, you're nothing compared to the scientists at the lab. Besides, I've got mutant strength and-"

Suddenly, her fist comes flying at my head and I quickly duck.

….oh shoot….

...I'M FIGHTING WITH THE WORLD'S GREATEST ASSASSIN!

I dodge a kick to the ribs and send a punch of my own. She dodges it easily and we instinctively start circling each other. Gee….how did we end up like this?

Unexpectedly, she feints to the right, but then clips my left hip with a punch. I yelp and jump back. Natasha looks concerned for a moment, but I shake my head. Okay, okay….let instincts take over, Zoey. Huh, where's the wolf when I need it?

Suddenly, I dart towards her and punch her belly. Before she can defend herself, I jump out of her reach. I perk up. Ha! Maybe I should let my little canine fight more often.

Natasha narrows her eyes and flings her fist towards me. I grab it and twist her arm around her back. Then, with her shoulder in one hand and her hand in another, I pull, threatening to dislocate her shoulder.

She grunts and freezes. I'm about to whoop in victory, but then she jerks her head back, hitting mine. Black dots dance across my vision and I stumble backwards.

The assassin whirls around and sends a spinning kick to my chest, making me fall back onto the ground.

"Hey, Nat!" Clint suddenly calls from the archery area, "Go easy on her!"

"I'm fine!" I wheeze, and look up to see Natasha lunging towards me. Instinctively, I kick her in the groin. She grunts in pain and stumbles- you guessed it- right onto me.

She wraps her right hand on my back under my armpit while her knee collides with my stomach. I see her raise her left fist to punch my face and my eyes widen.

Quickly, I turn onto my side, dragging her with me. Flinging her onto her back, I pop up and now _I'm_ the one on top.

I wrap my hands around her neck and snarl, "Yield!"

She grunts and squirms beneath me. I shake her and tighten my grip, "Yield!"

Suddenly, her leg wraps around my neck and I'm flung onto the floor. I gasp in surprise, and yell, "How did this happen?!"

Fortunately, both of us have enough time to scramble to our feet.

As fast as lightning, I aim a punch to her face, but she grabs my fist. Gritting my teeth, I try to resist as she slowly turns it against my joint. Abruptly, she stops and I blink.

Her eyes look unfocused for a moment and she cocks her head. Then, with her other hand, she presses something in her ear- and earpiece?- and mutters, "Got it. On my way."

She lets go of my hand and takes off her punching gear, "Duty calls, kid. I'll see ya later." A few moments later, she jumps out of the ring. Before she leaves, though, she turns around and says, "You did good."

I grin and say, "Thanks."

Natasha nods and walks out of the training room. I watch the door close, and then turn towards the archery area. An arrow whizzes through the air and hits the target. Madison whoops in victory, "I did it! Zoey, did you see? I shot an arrow!"

I raise an eyebrow and nod. Although the arrow hit the very edge of the target, it still got on it, so I guess that's a big accomplishment for someone who's never shot before.

Nodding, I grin and give her a thumbs up. She grins back and then scrambles to shoot another arrow. Clint desperately tries to help her.

I sigh and chew on the inside of my cheek.

….hmmm...they seem busy, so…..why not?

Quietly, I creep away from the combat ring and towards the door. With one last look over my shoulder, I sneak out of the training room.

Hmm...what to do...what to do?

Oh! Maybe I can go outside and sunbathe, like Finn and Angus do sometimes? And anyways, I want to see all the planes and jets they've got.

Morphing into the wolf, I trot happily down the hallway, not having a clue where I'm going. As I pass, many agents give me odd looks, which I ignore. Sniffing the air for the scent of outsideness, the smell of cooking food reaches my adorable black nose. Of course, my inner wolf tells me to follow the scent, which I do without hesitation. It's about time I have lunch anyway.

My nose leads me to what I can only assume is the food court. Pressing my nose up against the door, I inhale deeply and smell frying chicken. My mouth waters and I lick my chops.

Raising a paw, I extend a long black claw and gently press down on the door handle. It immediately bends down and I nose the door open.

Agents look up from their meals as I stroll in casually. Walking right up to the counter, I put my paw on the bell and it makes a little ding.

"Just a second." a muffled voice comes from behind a bunch of kitchen stuff. A few seconds later, a lady with a hairnet comes out and stares at me.

I glance up at the menu above. Mashed potatoes, salad, sandwiches, burgers... macaroni! Ha! You are never too old to have macaroni! Hmm...what else? Ahh, there's the chicken. Ooh, there's steak and pork too!

I lift a paw and press a toe on the picture of chicken. Since I'm, well, _huge_, I can reach the elevated sign easily.

The cafeteria lady leans over to see what I'm pointing at, and then writes it down on a piece of paper. "Er...how many?" she asks uncertainly. After a moment, I slap my paw down twice and she nods, "Alright, two chickens. Anything else?"

I nod, point to the burgers, and slap my paw down three times. She nods, and then calls out to whoever is in the kitchen, "I need two orders of chicken and three burgers." she looks at me, "Cheese?"

I nod vigorously and she yells, "Make them cheese!"

There's a faint reply, and then the lady turns back to me, "It'll take about ten minutes." Jerking my head, I turn around and walk towards the tables. All of the agents stare at me, some in the middle of chewing, others gaping. I flick my ear and search amongst them for a familiar face.

Near the back, Agent Hill is tapping away on her phone. I cock my head. Eh, why not?

Walking over to her table, I take a seat on a chair, which now seems really small. Unexpectedly, the metal bends underneath me and I now sit on a squashed chair. Maria raises an eyebrow and looks up.

"What are you doing here?" the agent asks and I look over my shoulder, then back at her. Her eyes flicker to the counter, and then back to my multicolored ones. "Clint said he was keeping an eye on you and your sister." she states emotionlessly.

I shake my head, ruffling my mane, and give her a 'seriously' look. To top it all off, I even tilt one of my ears sideways while the other stays up.

"Ah." Maria nods, and then looks back down at her phone. I sigh and wait patiently, occasionally tapping my claws on the table. Now and then, my gaze flickers to the agent. Honestly, I thought she would be more interesting. Eh, she just needs a good party to shake her up.

Ten minutes later, the cafeteria lady calls out, "Miss….wolf? Your food is ready." I bark and stand up. Before I go, I dip my head towards Maria and she gives a small smile. Trotting back to the counter, the scent of fried chicken and burgers reaches my nose. Ahh...don't you just love that smell? Well, maybe vegans don't, but since I'm part canine….

The lady pushes an awesome smelling bag towards me and I grab it in my mouth. With a grateful yip to her, I turn around and walk towards the door. Again, I open it with a claw, and then stroll out of the room.

Okay, what was I doing? Oh yeah, going outside.

Turns out, the bridge was near the food court, and I curiously stick my head into the large room. As usual, there's a bunch of agents there, but Director Fury isn't. I just shrug and sneak past them.

Opening a familiar looking door, which I now remember as the one that I dragged Clint through two years ago, I'm met by dazzling sunlight. Fresh air enters my lungs and I take a deep breath.

Ahh, now that's more like it.

Trotting outside, my tail wagging, I search for a nice sunny spot to eat. As usual, I get odd looks, but no one stops me. A few minutes later, I'm eyeing a patch of warm metal near a jet, so there's shade nearby.

Shrugging, I trot over to it and flop down. For a moment, I just lay there, my tongue hanging out, and the sun warming my pelt. Then, I stick my muzzle into the food bag.

Nipping a burger, I draw it out of the bag and snap it up in a few quick bites. The other two go down just as quickly, and then I move onto the fried chickens. The bones easily snap, splinter, and crack under my strong jaws, and they, along with the meat, soon disappear into my stomach.

Then, with my stomach full, I roll onto my back and let the sun shine down on my grey belly. Soon, I start to doze off.

Only to be rudely awakened by a shadow falling over me.

I open one eye irritably and see Director Fury standing in front of me. "We're going to the mountains now." he states and I stare at him blankly. He sighs, and says, "Get up."

Huffing, I drowsily struggle to my paws. Can't get a moment of peace here. I didn't even get to wash the food crumbs out of my fur. Before I can walk anywhere, though, he steps in front of me. A small smile is on his face.

Uh oh

"Seeing as you are a wolf mutant with an attitude, and that you are defiant, and that you tend to not follow orders, we need you to wear this."

Then, Fury lifts up the object that I saw the engineers working on earlier. Now, I can get a closer look.

And get this

It's a collar

**Oh Fury**

**Anyway, if any of you are fans of the Warriors series, check out my Youtube account Wolf Colt. I drew a speedpaint of Brokenstar, who is one of my favorite villains**

**See ya next week!**

**-Flaming Crow**


	9. Part 2, Chapter 4

**Here comes the collar chase**

**The title of this chapter is from Shakira 'She Wolf'**

**I only own my characters**

Chapter Nine

There's a she-wolf in your closet

I stare blankly at the collar. It's thick, grey, and looks very high tech. Wait, scratch out the grey part. There's flecks of dark purple and little fake diamonds on it. And, much to my displeasure, the tags are in the shape of bones.

Fury _really_ thinks that I'm willingly going to wear _this?_

I might as well just flush my dignity down a toilet!

I give Fury a 'seriously' look and walk around him. Suddenly, I feel strong arms wrap around my shoulders and press down. The one-eyed man slips the collar over my muzzle, but I quickly back up and worm out of his grip.

He stumbles and I yip with excitement. Running around him in a circle, I rear up on my hind legs before taking off across the warm metal. Fury scrambles to his feet and chases after me. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as he yells, "Just wear the stupid collar or I'll put a chip in your neck!"

Stupid one-eye llama!

Whoa….where'd that come from?

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah- that's only going to make me run faster, idiot!

I dash towards the maze of jets and planes, Fury following a few feet behind me. Huh, he's surprisingly fast.

Narrowing my eyes, I zip in between multiple hovercrafts, trying to get him off my tail. A particularly large one suddenly gets in my way, but I surprise myself by dropping down and sliding underneath it.

Wow….I wonder why Bruce doesn't get along with the Other Guy when I the Wolf and I work so well together?

Immediately, I hop to my paws again and continue running like nothing happened. For a moment, I think I lost the director, but then I hear his footsteps behind me again. Gee, that guy's got speed and stamina.

My sides are beginning to ache and I'm slowing down. Ahh, no no no! I don't want to wear that collar!

Suddenly, a low, growl-like voice enters my head, _Curve your spine._

I almost stumble in surprise. What was that? It didn't sound like Madison at all! The voice speaks again, and I realize it's in wolf, _Curve your spine. Stretch your paws out further and then tuck them in. Spring with your back legs._

I'm too shocked to say anything, but suddenly I start curving and arching my spine more. Instinctively, my forepaws stretch out further each time and dig their claws into the metal. My hind legs push off harder from the ground, and soon I'm only aware of the beat of my running. Things pass by me in a blur as I run faster than I've ever ran before. My paws barely touch the ground as I skim over-

CRASH!

Suddenly, I feel something hard collide with my face and I fall, rolling over and over until I stop. Groaning, I look up to see a fallen Thor getting to his feet. He looks at me and asks, "Lady Zoey, what-"

"Thor!" Fury yells loudly and I see him far back in the distance, "GRAB HER!"

Thor looks at me.

Crap.

I try to scramble out of the way, but Thor manages to grab my lower half. Using his god-like strength, he lifts me into the air. Meanwhile, I buck, wriggle, squirm, and kick, trying desperately to get out. A few moments later, a winded Fury catches up to us and together they tackle me.

He flips me onto my back and I punch him with a paw that's nearly as big as his face. He grunts but proceeds to push all of his weight onto me, not to mention Thor's, and pins my forepaws down with his elbows.

In a last attempt, I snarl, but he abruptly shuts my muzzle with a hand.

Ouch! He made me bite my tongue!

I whine as he once again slips the collar over my clamped muzzle. My eyes widen and I thrash my head. I feel the collar slip over my ears, then onto my neck.

No!

Inside my head, I hear a wolf let out a vicious snarl, confusing me even more.

I would've howled in despair of my defeat, but Fury's still fired up and yanks on the rope to tighten my collar. Then, he and Thor climb off me as I gasp for breath.

*cough*

*hack*

*gasp*

The collar naturally loosens up enough for me to breathe, but I still hack a bit from the pain. Ugh, I am going to be soooo sore tomorrow. First I fight with an assassin, then I go all turbo fast, then I crash into a god, and now I just got tackled by a god and an agent and almost got choked to death.

Growling, I shake out my mane and growl at Fury, who is now holding onto my collar. He's smirking and I scowl, "You're good, and definitely fast," he breathes heavily from the struggle, "But some training couldn't hurt."

_No_

_Never in my entire life will I go to obedience school!_

I jerk forward, out of his grip, and run to where the Avengers are gathering outside a jet. The sudden movement causes Fury to fall face-first onto the floor.

"How much energy do you have?!"

* * *

My collar shrinks as I morph back into my human form. Dang, Fury is clever.

I rub it, feeling the thick and slightly rough material, and walk towards the Avengers, who are waiting for me in the jet. Hopefully, no one will notice.

Quietly, I take a seat next to Tony and Clint. Everybody stares at me. I blink. They see the collar, don't they? Hmm….I wonder who will be the first to say something about it?

And it issss…..

"Um, the collar?" Clint. I should've known, "Did you play, like, pets or something with the agents?"

I raise an eyebrow at him, "Do you really think any of the agents would do that?"

Uncle Tony grabs my collar, "Probably not. But there's a SHIELD logo on this." Then, he lifts the bone-shaped tags with a finger, "Zoey Colt. Wolf mutant, Property of SHIELD-"

"PROPERTY OF _SHIELD_?!" I exclaim, interrupting him, "Excuse me, but I am _not _property of _anyone."_

Uncle Tony huffs and says sarcastically, "But then how will people know where you belong if SHIELD loses their little puppy?" I glare at him and he smirks, looking back down at the tags, "There's more. Hmm... press ON button on remote to activate collar. Tracking device and….emergency shock?"

He gives me a confused look and I shrug, "I guess it's just in case I take off. Or go crazy. I can see both of those happening, actually. The tracking thing is so they can find me, but I'm not sure what the shock is…"

Natasha and Clint exchange a glance but say nothing.

I narrow my eyes suspiciously, but before I can ask what the shock thing is, Thor walks in. As he takes a seat, he hands something to Natasha. "Director Fury inquired that I give this contraption to you." he says in his Asgardian accent.

She looks at the thing in her hand and I see that it's a remote. The assassin presses a button and suddenly my collar beeps twice and starts humming.

"What the-"

"**Testing."** Fury's voice comes through the collar. Clint leans over and presses a button on it, "We can hear you, over."

Immediately, I put a hand to my collar and try to find that clip thingamajig to take it off.

Ugh

Too many buttons

And too little brain power

Fury's voice comes again, "**Don't bother trying to take it off, Zoey."** I growl and he says, "**It's no ordinary collar."**

I roll my eyes and press a button. "No, really?" I say sarcastically, "I thought you stopped by PetCo and thought of me."

Fury grumbles on the other end and I smirk. "So, what's the plan?"

"You, me, Steve, Bruce, and Clint will go into the lab, pretending we're from the same company. You'll be my apprentice, so it won't seem weird to them if you're there." Natasha begins.

I nod and say cautiously, "Okay, but don't expect me to say something smart."

"Don't worry," Clint assures, "We don't."

I frown and stick my tongue out at him.

Natasha raises an eyebrow and continues, "While we distract them, you'll go talk to your wolf friends and try to gather some information. Meanwhile, Clint will plant a bug on their computers. Tony, who will stay behind with Thor, seeing as they could be recognized more easily, is going to use his computer and hack into their computers. Through the bug."

"Yeah, I got that." I say, and then look around, "And if there's trouble-"

"-your Uncle Tony and Thor will come in and blow up everything!" Uncle Tony interrupts and pats a case, in which I assume is his suit. His Iron Man suit (jerks eyebrows).

Clint, Natasha, and Steve roll their eyes, and the ride goes on in silence. About thirty seconds later, I notice Madison isn't here. Ya, I know, kinda late. They've must've told her to stay behind. Wait, why would they do that if she is basically a Jabberjay? Well, it's probably best if she didn't come anyways so she doesn't get hurt. And they're probably going to record it anyway.

Suddenly, my phone buzzes and the Nyan Cat song plays. Don't judge me- I like rainbows and poptarts.

I take out my iPhone and tap the screen. It's Chelsea. Smiling, I answer, "Hey, Chel."

"_Zoey, I need your help."_

"Okay. Shoot."

"_You know your cat that just hangs around everywhere?"_

"Ya. Fat Whiskers."

"_Um, o__kay. Well...Whiskers keeps giving me and your mom dead mice."_

"So throw them away."

"_I do, but she won't stop."_

"He. Fat Whisker's a he. I think you can see that pretty clearly when he turns around."

All of the Avengers' heads snap up and look at me with deer-caught-in-headlights expressions. Well, minus Natasha. She's just covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.

"_Eww, okay, I didn't need to know that, Zoey. Anyway, what should I do?"_

"Hmm…" I think, and then shrug, "I dunno, get rid of him. I never liked that cat. Or cats in general. We should get a mouse-hunting dog."

"_...you know what? I think I'll just call the vet."_

"Fine. I see how it is."

"_Have fun at camp, Zoey. Bye."_

I roll my eyes and hang up. My step-mom told all the workers that Madison and I were going to a winter camp.

A few moments later, all the male Avengers stop staring and Uncle Tony speaks up, "If you don't like cats, why is your ringtone Nyan _Cat_?"

I blink and stare blankly at the wall. "Wow." I mutter loudly, "I did not think of that."

Clint snickers and then says, "Fat Whiskers? Really?"

I huff and lean back, tapping my iPhone. In a sing-song voice, I reply, "It could've been Captain Bobo..."

We all fall back into a silence. During this time, I play CandyCrushSaga on my phone, occasionally breaking the silence with a loud curse when I lose. Each time, Steve gives me a disapproving look, but thankfully says nothing. As we get closer and closer to the mountains, the wind starts howling outside. Howling….

I suddenly remember that wolf voice in my head from earlier.

What was that thing? It was so weird, and….and it kind of sounded like _me _when I am a wolf. Could...could that have been the Wolf talking to me? Do things like that talk to people? Maybe the Other Guy talks to Bruce? I should ask him.

Exiting CandyCrush (after losing all my lives), I look for Bruce in my contacts. Yeah, I got all their numbers. Uncle Tony wants me to have a StarkPhone. But I like my iPhone! It is my precious!

Finding the scientist's name, I text:

'hey bruce, just out of curiosity does the other guy talk to u sometimes?"

I patiently wait for an answer. A few seconds later, Bruce's phone buzzes. He picks it up and taps it a few times. For a moment, he stares at it, and then glances at me quickly before replying.

'**Yes, sometimes. Why? Is there a wolf talking to you?'**

I hesitate, then reply,

'I think so. I was just wondering cuz it freaked me out.'

Bruce pauses for a while, then texts,

'**Do you want to talk about it?'**

'...a bit. its just...I felt so awesome and powerful when it spoke. I was running away from Fury so he wouldnt put the collar on me, but then my sides started aching cuz I was tired. The Wolf taught me how to run faster without getting too tired, and it worked. It felt so good, but so weird at the same time. I dont know if I should listen to it or not'

For a while, we both just stare at our phones. Then,

'**If it's helping you, then I think you can listen. But if it tells you to do something you don't want to do, then ignore it.' **

'...ok. Thanks, Uncle Bruce.'

'**I'm not your uncle….but you're welcome.'**

I sigh, feeling much better. _So….Wolf, _I think, _Got anything to say to me? _

No reply

_Okay, then, _I think, _You're going to have to sign a contract, though, because I've already got Madison in my head. If you want to join the party, I'm going to have to get something in return._

Nothing

_I'm talking to myself in my head. Wonderful._

**R&R!**

**Guys, don't forget to watch California Chrome go for the Triple Crown!**

**-Flaming Crow**


	10. Part 2, Chapter 5

**So, a slightly darker chapter here, mainly because it involves the evil Lab that turned Zoey into a mutant. I did put in a few jokes and stuff, but there aren't as many as there usually is. **

**The title of this chapter is from Fall Out Boy 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs'**

**I don't own MARVEL (sadly)**

**DISCLAIMER: Dr. Hunter and Dr. Otawa are NOT real doctors, simply used for fanfictional reasons. Also, China is not evil**

Chapter Ten

Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great

A few hours later, the jet lands on a rough runway. I jerk awake from my doze.

"Wha?" I blink sleepily. Natasha is standing up, "We're here."

I lift my head from my pillow, which was Clint's arm, and yawn. Shaking my head like a dog to wake myself up, I stand up. The jet slows to a stop, and the door opens.

The air that flows in is icy cold and thin. I forgot that we were in the mountains. And, along with the cold air, comes the sour, musky, vile scent of the lab. My eyes widen in fear and I stumble backwards.

_Get back!_ The Wolf hisses at me and I clutch my head, _Bad scent! Bad lab! Run, run, run! _

Confused, I whirl around in the opposite direction. Startled, the Avengers crowd around me. "Zoey, what's wrong?" Steve asks worriedly and I shake my head. As I try to get past them, the Wolf growls, _Wolf time. Morph and run! Bad lab! Bad lab! Pain, screams, howls-_

"Ahh! Shut up!" I scream out loud, feeling my fangs grow, "Get out of my head!" Bruce grabs my arm, and I barely notice his voice say, "Zoey, don't listen to it! Block it out! Ignore it."

I gasp and squeeze my eyes shut. _Be quiet, Wolf! _I snarl in my head. The Wolf growls back, _Don't go to the lab! You remember what happened there!_

_And I'll stop them!_ I retort, _I'll have my revenge!_

_You don't understand! It has changed! Can't you smell them?_

My head throbs and I hiss, _Who?_

_Them! _The Wolf snarls, sounding panicked.

_If you're talking about the Pack, then no. Not yet. But I will soon and we will get them out. I promise._

The Wolf growls, but doesn't reply. Sighing with relief, I slowly open my eyes. All of the Avengers are peering down at me, and I realize I'm kneeling on the floor, my whole body shaking. I also notice that I'm half-morphed, looking both human and wolf, and quickly morph back into my normal self.

"What just happened?" Uncle Tony asks warily. I blink, still shocked, and mutter, "Sorry. Memories."

"But who were you screaming at?" Clint asks.

"Er….um…" I look at Bruce for help and he sighs. Leaning down, he helps me up and says, "Zoey's wolf talks to her. Like the Other Guy talks to me, sometimes."

They stare at us in silence. I sigh and ask Bruce, "Is it always going to do that?"

He smiles and shakes his head, "No, it gets better. You learn to fight it, or get along with it. It was hard my first time, too."

I nod gratefully. Natasha turns around and picks something up, "Alright, now that that's over, let's get ready."

She tosses white coats to Bruce, Clint, and Steve, and then hands a smaller one to me before putting on her own. I look at the nametag on mine. It reads: Kaida Scott

Kaida? What does that mean?

As I put on my coat, I notice that Clint's nametag says Jeremy Renner. Bruce's says Mark Ruffalo, Steve's says Chris Evans, and Natasha's says Scarlett Johansson. Finally, being the fart-brain that I am, it clicks for me that these are our codenames. But why did Natasha choose Scarlett? No offense to any Scarlettes out there, but I find that name way too girly for someone like Natasha.

When we're all ready, Natasha nods to Uncle Tony and Thor, and then leads us out of the jet. Just as I remembered, it's in a dark crevice in the mountain. There are lights on the roof, and in the center of the area is the horrid lab. Fear scent rolls off it like waves, and I try to not breathe through my nose.

Two scientists walk up to us. One is holding a clipboard and glances down at it, "Scarlett, Jeremy, Chris, and Mark?"

"Yup." Natasha nods, and the other scientist looks at me, "And who is this?" I tense up, but Bruce puts a hand on my shoulder and replies, "This is Kaida Scott, Scarlett's apprentice."

The two scientists nod, and then one extends his hand, "I am Dr. Otawa and this is my colleague, Dr. Hunter. Please, follow us."

As they lead us towards the lab, I mentally snort. Dr. Hunter. Perfect. I wonder who his next kill will be?

The lab is surrounded by a fence, which has barbed wire lining the top. It looks a few good stories tall, and I can see a few small windows here and there. Before I can see what's at the bottom, Steve pulls me along. He has a disgusted look on his face, which makes me wonder what's below the windows.

We walk through the entrance doors and are led immediately to the second floor. All throughout this, I'm tense and on edge, wanting so badly to just run out of here and never come back. I can almost hear the howls of- wait a minute, I _can_ hear them.

The elevator dings open and we enter the second floor. Lining the walls are old, smelly cages, filled with…

...with…

...my Pack.

I stifle a gasp and Steve grabs my hand comfortingly. I look around, eyes wide, as Dr. Otawa and Dr. Hunter show us around. "Now I know this seems ugly," says Dr. Otawa, "But don't worry, this is all for the greater good of mankind. And we try to keep this as humane as possible."

I mentally snort...again. Yeah right, tell that to the mutants screaming in pain right above us.

The two scientists go on to explaining the wolf mutants. While they do, I see Clint tap something onto the back of a computer.

"Guitain!"

I whip around to see a familiar wolf mutant staring at me through the cage bars. "Guitain!" he hisses again, "Guitain!"

Soon, all of the mutants recognize me-and my scent- and start chanting my name. _Pack, pack, _the Wolf barks, _Free the Pack! No cages!_

_Finally, something we agree on, _I yip at it. I nudge Steve and he looks down at me. I look at the mutants, and then back at him. He nods and lets go of my hand, walking up to the doctors and asking them a question while making them turn their backs on the mutants.

I quickly dash towards Kaiser, the leader. He's the biggest and oldest one here, but the bars of his small cage have cut into his skin. Sharp, silver, claw-like things stick out along his spine, along with small ones on his head. His fangs are unnaturally long, like a saber-toothed tiger, but that's not why he's leader. He's simply the wisest.

"Guitain." Kaiser rasps, "Why have you returned, young pup?" He's very thin and seems weak, making me frown.

"We're busting you guys outta here. We're going to free everyone, but I need information."

He sighs, "We don't have much time. I can't tell you much, but I'll try to persuade one of the others to escape."

I perk up at this, "There's a few windows around."

"That's what I was thinking." He seems hesitant.

"So, why not?" I ask.

The wolf in the cage next to him, Esarosa, says, "It's a long fall, and at the bottom are the dead bodies of mutants." I freeze, and the Wolf snarls angrily in my head. The white female continues, "Most of them are pups that didn't survive. Plus, there's a fence with barbed wire. And we're all so tired and weak...I don't think any of us could even make it to the window…."

She seems to be holding something back. I frown even more and ask, "What else? There's another reason, I know it."

Kaiser slowly nods and says weakly, "They've created new guards. They're very powerful."

I sigh, but before I can say anything else, the sound of mewling pups reaches my ears. I lean over and see five pups, huddled in the back of a smelly cage. They all look normal...I don't think they've been experimented on yet. I let out a low, determined growl and turn back to Kaiser, "We'll get you out. I promise."

He blinks and nods. "Thank you."

Suddenly, I feel someone pull me up and turn to see Clint. He quickly drags me away from the cages, right as Dr. Hunter turns around. Phew!

I give Clint a grateful glance and he makes a 'be careful' look.

"This one is a very successful one." the scientist says, pointing to Esarosa. She bares her teeth and snarls, shrinking to the back of the cage.

"Its DNA is mixed with a…" he glances at me, and decides to dumb it down, "A sort of ice serum. Therefore, its fur turned white and with every pawstep it takes, the ground turns to ice or snow around it."

"Then there's this one." Dr. Otawa turns to Kaiser, "It's the oldest one here. Can't really do much with it anymore. We're thinking about just getting rid of it, seeing it's now useless."

I bite back a snarl.

"As you already know, these mutants are made for military reasons." Dr. Hunter says, "We've recently had a handful of interested customers in China." My eyes widen and I shoot a glance at Steve. He doesn't look at me, but simply takes my hand again and squeezes it. Dr. Hunter continues, "As well as a few other countries."

"Are there any buyers in America?" Natasha asks, and Dr. Hunter shakes his head, "Unfortunately, no. They're not too fond of this program. A few years ago, a military general almost ratted us out, but he reconsidered when we offered to give him a mutant for free. Seems like he needed it for some reason, because he actually agreed." The scientist laughs and says sarcastically, "Such great military leaders America has. Keeps a secret so he can have his own little toy. And he didn't even get the best one! Just a little female that could only morph into a normal sized wolf."

Dr. Otawa sighs, looking at his partner, "We could have improved that mutant so much more! Just a few more tests, and it could've been worth millions."

_It! _I am not an _it! _

I bite my lip and step closer to Steve, my heartbeat rabbiting. The super soldier squeezes my hand and moves himself just slightly in front of me, not so much that the scientists would notice, but enough for me to feel safer.

So... they hadn't expected my wolf form to get bigger as I grew. Good, I guess? But they remember me- that's not good. Oh, man, I am sooo glad that Mason got me when he did. I don't want to think about those tests they wanted to put me through.

"Anyway," Dr. Otawa says, gesturing to the stairs, "Shall we move on?" Natasha, Bruce, and Clint nod, while I just lean against Steve. Dr. Hunter glances at me and asks worriedly, "I'm sorry, Miss Scott. Is this a bit much for you? I know you're still only an apprentice."

"Huh?" I jump a bit, surprised at being addressed directly, "Oh, no, I'm fine. Just have a little headache." He nods and leads us up the staircase to the third floor.

Before we go, I look over my shoulder, searching for my wolf friend, Faolan. Seeing this, Esarosa calls out, "He's in the experiment room."

I pale and begin to feel sick.

Steve lets go of my hand and puts his on my shoulder. I look at him and he bends down, concern on his face, "Hey, are you alright?" I swallow hard and nod, feeling a little light-headed. I glance over my shoulder, feeling my eyes water, and turn back to him, "Just..." I take a deep, shuddering breath, and try to suppress the memories of this horrid place that are threatening to cloud my mind. Steve nods understandingly and presses me against him. I nuzzle into his side, feeling like a stupid little kid, and force away my tears.

After a moment, Steve pulls away and gently leads me after the group, who are already at the top of the stairs.

The third level is definitely interesting. There's a bunch of other experiments, like bird or lizard, and even a fungus one, which looks gross. But then, a large, strange looking man walks up to us.

He's as tall as Thor, maybe even taller, with large muscles and scars. A cruel smile is on his face, and his pale yellow eyes look hungry for blood. Definitely a mutant.

I blink and take a step closer to Steve.

"Hello, Cathal." Dr. Otawa greets him, and then turns to us, "Cathal is our most successful and intelligent experiment. At first, we just mixed his DNA with a lion's, but then we took it a step further and added in some Super Soldier Serum. Like Captain America."

We all freeze and stare at Cathal. He grins, showing off long sharp teeth, and I notice that his pupils are actually slits.

"Therefore," Dr. Hunter says, "We now have a more modern superhero."

"I thought nobody could get the serum right." Bruce says and Dr. Otawa shakes his head, "It took a while, but we finally got it right. We're in the process of making more mutants like Cathal. We're calling them Cat Traps." He laughs.

The scientists start talking about the other experiments, and I start to feel a little nauseous. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I turn to see Cathal staring at me. He sniffs the air and my blood runs cold. He can smell the Wolf.

I turn back around and walk away from Steve. Pressing up to Clint's side, I whisper, "We have to go. He knows I'm a mutant. He can smell my wolfness."

Clint looks confused for a moment, but then realizes what I meant and politely attempts to speed things up. Twenty minutes later, we exit the lab.

As soon as we're out of sight, I dash towards the jet and wrench open the door. Plopping down on a seat, I say to the pilot, "Lets go, please."

"Lady Zoey," Thor frowns, "What is the matter?"

Clint, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha climb into the jet and sit down, looking shocked. Uncle Tony looks at them, and then sits down next to me, "Come on. You can tell your Uncle Tony."

"It was just…."

"Hard?"

"Yeah."

The jet takes off, and while we're in the air, Clint, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha tell Thor and Uncle Tony about the lab. Meanwhile, I bring my knees to my chin and lean on Uncle Tony.

When they finish, the genius nudges me and asks, "You okay, kid?"

"I guess."

"Do you need Nyan Cat?"

I smile at his randomness, "Yeah."

* * *

Later….

Grumbling, I toss and turn in bed. I had gone to bed a while ago along with Madison, but I can't seem to fall asleep. There's something nagging me in the back of my head, and at first I thought it was the Wolf, but then I realized it was probably just me. In fact, the Wolf wants me to go to sleep.

_Rest, _it growls, _tired._

_Hey, I'm tired too_, I snap back, _I don't know why I can't sleep, so bear with me._

As usual, the Wolf is silent to any common talk.

Sighing, I bring my legs close to my chest and hug them. A few moments later, I turn around to face the other way.

Suddenly, Madison snaps, "Would you quit moving?! Some people are trying to sleep here!"

I feel something hard press against me, then air, then hard ground. Groaning, I sit up and rub the back of my head, "You could've asked me instead of pushing me off the bed!" In response, I get a gentle snore.

Rolling my eyes, which are now glowing (wolfness), I get up and walk out of the room. Maybe a midnight stroll will tire me out.

The Helicarrier, which is hovering above the mountains, isn't very busy. Most of the agents are resting, like I should be. Hmm...I wonder if Fury sleeps?

I peek into the main room. Nope. Still standing at the bridge, still giving orders and watching over everything. I narrow my eyes. Doesn't he get tired?

_Good leader, _the Wolf comments, _Watches over his human Pack, even in the night. _

As I hesitate, pondering if I should walk in or not, I see Uncle Tony walking by in another hallway. He does a double take, and then walks into mine. "Hey, kiddo. What are you doing awake so late?" he checks his watch, and then corrects himself, "Early."

I shrug and reply, "I couldn't sleep. What about you?"

"Hm?" he seems surprised that I asked him, but then he says, "Oh, I'm not a big night sleeper. Actually, I don't sleep much at all. Most of the time I go to bed at 3am or something. It's an inventor thing. You know," he grins, "always hatching up new ideas."

_He lies, _the Wolf growls lightly and I reply, _Don't care._

Nodding to Uncle Tony, I say, "Well, I'm just gonna take a little walk outside and then go to sleep."

"You do that."

He walks away and I enter the main room. Fury immediately turns to me and asks, "Why are you awake?"

"Madison pushed me off the bed, but…"

I stop, letting wolf ears sprout from my head. I stare intently at the door. Did I just hear a howl?

Fury takes a step towards me but I flick my ear, signaling for him to stay. _Find, _the Wolf urges, _Find the Pack. They're calling for you._

Slowly, I morph into a wolf and walk towards the door. With a flick of my claw, it's open and I prowl outside. Walking to the edge of the Helicarrier, I stare into the dark night and perk my ears.

Silence.

But then-

"Guitaaaaaain!" I hear a howl, "Guitaaaaaain! Come, little shadow, find me! Guitaaaaaain!"

My heart skips a beat as I recognize Faolan's howl. He-he must've escaped. But how? Oh, no, he must be hurt! But...he sounds strong….

Shaking my head, I sit down. Stop being so pessimistic! I take a deep breath, then, with the light of the full moon (ironic, right?) outlining my pelt, let out a howl, "I hear you, Faolaaaaan! I'll come find youuuuu!"

There's a heartbeat of silence, and then he replies, "I miiiisssed youuuuu!"

"I missed you toooo!" I howl back, and then turn around and bound back to Fury.

**Ready to finally meet the famous Faolan? **

**Did anyone else totally _love _that Steve and Zoey father daughter moment? It's not just me, right? Well, you guys better notice, cuz there's gonna be a LOT more of it. **

**Happy early Father's Day! See you next Saturday!**

**-Flaming Crow**


	11. Part 2, Chapter 6

**Hey, I'm updating early because tomorrow I'm going to be super busy (cause it's my BIRTHDAY!)**

**The title of this chapter is from Taylor Swift 'Love Story'**

**I don't own MARVEL**

Chapter Eleven

We were both young when I first saw you

Thor yawns.

So does Bruce.

Along with Natasha.

Who is currently a pillow for sleepy Clint.

"Ughhh," Uncle Tony yawns, "Couldn't your boyfriend call you later? Like, 10:30am preferably?"

I glare at him and stifle a yawn, "Escaping at night is probably easier. And I never said you _had_ to come."

"We weren't going to let you go out here on your own." Steve says immediately, pacing around on the jet. He's the only one who seems to be….alive. I mean, didn't Uncle Tony say that he slept at, like, 3am? But here he is, dozing off and yawning. I glance down at my watch. Hmm...okay, it's one hour past his bedtime.

Well, I guess Steve has probably had his fill sleeping. Since he's slept for seventy years. In ice…..

Suddenly, Madison's voice enters my head, _Dude, where are you?_

_Well, since you pushed me out of bed, _I reply snidely, _I went for a walk. Then, when I was outside, I heard Faolan's howl, so now the Avengers and I are on our way back to Snow Mountain Wilderness._

There's a pause, and then she says, _I still think that name is stupid._

I mentally snicker.

_Wait, _Madison asks, _I__sn't Faolan that wolf dude you wanted to bust out earlier?_

_Yup_

_Oh, _she says in a weird tone and I narrow my eyes as she continues, _W__ell, you two have fun._

Then, her presence disappears.

I blink, and then realize what she implied. Huffing, I cross my arms and shake my head. Idiot. Didn't I clearly mention that I thought of Faolan as a _brother? _Not a… a dude pal.

I huff again and Steve looks at me. "Are you worried?" he asks and I shake my head, "No...well, Faolan might be hurt. It was just...Madison. Being weird. In my...head." Wow, that's one of the strangest things I've ever said. The super soldier nods awkwardly and looks away.

"So," Uncle Tony inhales deeply before continuing, "What does the guy look like? We need to know what we're searching for, so at least give us a description of him."

All eyes land on me. Eww, okay, that sounded weird. Natasha nudges Clint with her shoulder and he jerks awake, "Wha?"

"Zoey's telling us what Faolan looks like." she says and he nods dumbly, "Oh, right, okay."

I sigh and summon up my memories, "Well, his fur is different shades of grey. He has a really thick mane, like a lion, and short fur on the rest of his body, which is probably going to be really bad for him in this cold weather. Since he was originally a wolf, but now he has a bit of human DNA, his limbs are long and slim, like ours. I'm pretty sure he can stand on his hind legs like a human, too. Umm...he'll most likely be thin, by the way, but he's still big. Alsooo… he has retractable claws. And green eyes, like a human. With a short, narrow muzzle, but I think that's just natural. Aaand...that's about it."

"Cool." Uncle Tony comments. I nod, but before I can say anything, the pilot interrupts, "We're landing. Buckle up."

Steve sits down next to me and I take a deep breath. I have to admit; I'm a little nervous. I haven't seen Faolan for years. Would he be different? Would he be jealous that I got out and he didn't? Oh no, would he hate me for that? But why, then, did he go through all the trouble and escape? Why-

A hand presses on my shoulder and I turn to see Steve gazing at me with sympathy. "Don't worry," he reassures, "We'll find him. Trust me, I know what it's like to see someone you haven't talked to in years."

The way he says it so seriously surprises me, and I mutter quietly, "Thanks."

Slowly, the jet lands and we stand up. They all look at me, and I nod, morphing into my wolf form. The door opens and I spring onto the snow. Of course, being an unlucky ducky, I land right into a drift. Grunting, I lift my paws high and climb out of it. Then, I shake out my fur, sending snow everywhere.

"Hey, watch it!" Clint yells, covering his face. Natasha, who ducked behind him, laughs and says, "Well, at least you're awake now."

"Tis snow is nothing!" Thor comments, looking around, "Jotunheim is far colder."

We ignore him, and then Clint takes something out of his pocket. Tilting my head, I walk over to him and sniff it. "We're going to track him by finding his body heat."

I sigh and roll my eyes. Science. Turning around, I take a deep sniff. Instantly, I start coughing, my lungs icy cold. Okay, bad idea. Smaller sniffs.

Walking over a bit, I inhale softly. Hmm...nada.

I take a few pawsteps to the left and sniff. Nope.

"If you can't smell him here," Bruce speaks up, "We should probably move somewhere else. I did some research, and apparently wolves can smell something a mile away."

"In good weather conditions." I bark, which he doesn't understand.

Suddenly, I get and idea and trot towards Natasha. She turns to me and I dip my head. Using my big, wet, and, not to mention, _cold_ nose, I poke her pocket, which has the remote to my collar. The assassin takes a step back and pulls it out.

Turning around, I start trotting away. A few moments later, my collar turns and hums annoyingly. Just then, I see a snowflake fall from the sky. Followed by another. And another. Seriously? It just _has _to start snowing when we're looking for someone?

Sighing, I start picking up the pace. Soon, I'm a good distance away from the jet and stop. Lifting a paw, I scrape away some snow away from the ground and take a sniff.

_Pack, Pack, Pack! _The Wolf suddenly yaps, _I smell the Pack!_

"Yeah, I do too, you idiot." I mutter to myself, but I can't help wagging my tail. I've got his scent, so it can't be so hard to find him now.

Lifting my head to the sky, I let out a howl. My collar beeps and Natasha's voice comes in, **"Did you get his scent?"**

Ignoring her, my howl dies and I prick my ears, waiting anxiously for a response. There's a few moments of silence, and then, a weak howl cuts through the night air.

I let out a yelp of excitement.

**"I'll take that as a yes."** Natasha says through my collar.

Letting out a short howl of joy, I start running towards the source of the sound. It seems to have come from behind a rocky hill, which, if he is tired and wounded, is pretty hard to climb. Narrowing my eyes, I leap onto it without hesitation. Immediately, I start sliding backwards. Yelping with shock, I scramble for a pawhold.

_Whirl around, _the Wolf hisses and I swing my hind legs towards my front, efficiently turning myself around. Slowly, I come to a halt.

Blinking, I look up and see Steve, Thor, and Uncle Tony, who's in his suit, come towards me. Steve confuses me, but then I realize he's probably faster than most humans. And Thor...well, he's a god, so...

"Are you okay, kid?" Iron Man asks and I nod shakily. Shifting my paws, I start awkwardly shuffling up the hill backwards. It takes a while, but I eventually make it to the top and spin on my paws.

Up here, I'm able to see across a large snowy valley. A tiny dot is slowly moving about a mile or so away, leaving a grey trail in its wake. Faolan! Whining with excitement, I start towards him.

Almost instantly, my paws slip from underneath me and I start sliding down.

Oh shoot!

Wait...okay

I let myself slide down the hill, snow clogging my belly fur and making me shiver. As soon as I'm at the bottom, I leap to my paws and start racing across the valley.

Instinctively, I curve my spine and stretch my paws, just as the Wolf told me to. I pick up speed, practically flying over the snow as I run.

As I get closer to Faolan, I see him struggling in the snow. Slowing down, I let out a bark and he looks up. Our gazes meet, and recognition lights up in his green eyes. Then, we both start running to each other at the same time.

"Guitain!" he calls.

"Faolan!" I call back, the wind carrying me towards him.

…

Does this feel familiar to anyone?

No?

Maybe from a movie?

Eh, I dunno, but it's kinda cliche`.

Anyway….

Finally, after nine years, we meet again. I run faster.

We're so close, but- wait, wait!

I skid to a halt to prevent us from smacking into each other. Phew! That would've hurt-

"Omph!" I grunt as Faolan rams into me. We both crash to the ground in a flurry of paws, fur, and snow.

Que car crash sound effects

I groan and shake the snow off my head. Okay, that wasn't cliche`.

"Guitain!" Faolan yelps and buries his nose into my mane. I whine happily and wrap my forepaws around his shoulders. I'm shocked at how cold he is, but am too happy to care. His familiar scent wafts around me and he licks my cheek, "I missed you so much, Guitain!"

"I missed you too." my voice cracks and my muzzle disappears under his thick mane. We yelp, laugh, whine, and jump around in a weird wolf-hug. Then, we somehow shuffle into a sitting position, but still stay close.

I feel Faolan's breath near my ear. "It's all right now, little shadow." he murmurs, "Everything's going to be alright."

_I know, _I whine in my head and my tail wags harder.

* * *

Madison's POV

I stroll casually throughout the Helicarrier, not aiming for anywhere. It's around 5am, and, obviously, I should be asleep, but I couldn't when I found myself alone in the bed.

…..

Eww, okay that sounded a bit weird.

I open a random door and find myself in the main room. Oh, okay, cool.

Director Fury is standing on the bridge, watching over everything. I tilt my head. Doesn't that guy need to sleep?

I shrug, and then walk over to the table. Pulling up a whirly chair, I plop down on it and pull out my phone. Director Fury turns and calls out to me, "What are you doing awake at this hour?"

I look up and raise an eyebrow at him, "What do you think? Zoey's gone, and I'm waiting for her."

The adult sighs and turns around. I tap away on my phone, and then go on Instagram. As I do, I see a post made by one of those 'perfect sayings' accounts. It's a picture of five wolves standing together. Above them are words reading: Be Strong Enough to Stand Alone, Be Yourself Enough to Stand Apart, But Be Wise Enough to Stand Together When the Time Comes.

I blink. Cool! So ironic, though, with all this happening. I click Like, and then after a moment I take a screenshot of it. Zoey will probably want to see it wh-

Suddenly, I feel my heart ache and warmth spread through my body. For a moment, I'm stunned and confused. Then, a mischievous smile forms on my face.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Director Fury asks and I look at him, thinking of how to answer. Well, of course, every person who has seen as many romantic movies as I have knows this feeling. Ugh, Zoey would never watch any fluffy movies with me, so she's probably confused.

My smile morphs into a full-out grin as I reply, "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that our little mutant is simply in love."

* * *

Zoey's POV

There's a flash of light and then a snicker, "Oh, I'm so sending this to Madison."

My collar stops humming and I turn around. Uncle Tony is tapping on his StarkPhone, no doubt have taken a picture and is plastering it on the face of the Internet. I roll my eyes and Faolan stiffens.

I glance at him and then at the Avengers. Quickly, I morph back into a human and say, "This is Faolan. Faolan," the wolf mutant looks up, "Steve," I point at the super soldier, "Bruce," I point at the scientist, "Tasha," I point at the assassin, "Clint." I point at the archer, "Thor." I point at the god, "And Tony." I point at the inventor and he waves, "Hey, Faolan."

Faolan narrows his eyes, and then speaks human, "_Tony." _I look at him in surprise, and ask, "You speak human?"

He nods, "_Little bit._"

"Good," Clint says, "Now lets get back to headquarters, get a few things straight, and then maybe catch a few winks of sleep."

The archer turns around and presses his earpiece, no doubt calling Fury. Natasha follows him and the rest of us trail behind. "Is he hurt?" Bruce asks, looking over his shoulder. I blink and look at Faolan's pelt. Oh, right. He's not….hurt

I shake my head and morph into the Wolf. Walking besides him, I raise an eyebrow and ask, "Why do you look so….good?" Oh, great. Way to make that sound weird, Zoey.

Faolan glances at me and replies, "I've changed a lot, Guitain. I've gone through more experiments."

I look down guiltily, feeling bad that I got out and he didn't. When I look down at my paws, though, I notice that Faolan's human-like arms are full of white scars and the fur is ruffled.

I lift my head and ask, "What kind of experiments?"

He looks ahead and replies numbly, "I can heal quickly. Almost immediately."

I glance down at his forearms and he notices, "But they didn't get it right at first. They tried many times. And they tested their little potion by cutting my arms."

I shudder. Then, another question pops in my head, "But then why didn't you escape earlier, if you were so strong?"

Faolan shakes his head, "I can still get tired, though. And I can still feel cold." he ruffles his pelt, "And I didn't really have a reason to. Sure, the place was bad, but I didn't have anyone on the outside world. I didn't know where you were, I didn't know what was outside, heck, I don't even know how people normally live."

I nudge his side with my wet nose, "I'll teach you. You're going to love Madison. She's my step-sister. She's a big dog-lover, so she'll like you."

He nods, and then licks my forehead, "Good. But anyway, what happened to your face, little shadow?"

I blink, taken aback.

"What?"

"You have a scar on your forehead. That's new." Oh. Oh right! Phew, okay, I thought….nevermind.

"Oh, that." I breathe, and then grin sheepishly, "Madison and I were near some thorn bushes, and I started acting like an idiot. Then...yeah."

The male wolf mutant tilts his head, "What's a thorn bush?"

I gape, and then shake my head, "Oh. Right. I'll show you later."

He smiles and then shivers, fluffing up his short pelt. I immediately press up against him. He glances at me, surprised, and I'm glad I have fur, or else I'd look as red as a tomato.

"You know," Faolan says, "Although I'm freezing, it's good to be out of there. It smells fresh here."

"Yeah, by the way, how'd you get out?" I ask.

"After Kaiser told me that you had come, I tried to get out. But I had to wait 'till the scientists went to sleep. At night, I managed to pick the lock to my cage with my retractable claws. Sneaking out of the room to the window was really hard, especially with the new...guards. Cathal was patrolling, along with another female of his kind called Mave. She's very similar to him, personality wise and physically, but she's part leopard instead of lion. It was hard to avoid them without them catching my scent, but luckly, well, sort of, one of the mutants had thrown up, so their noses were befuddled long enough for me to slip through the window. The fall was a killer; the bodies were all broken and mushy." he shudders, "I landed next to some poor pups. They were so messed up, but...so young." He sighs and I murmur, "We all were."

He shakes his mane and continues, "Anyway. I found a weak spot in the fence, but there were wires poking out everywhere and they scratched me. Of course, I healed, and ran out of there as quickly as I could. Then, when I was far away enough, I howled, and now I'm here."

I nod and we fall silent. Soon, the jet lands near us, Natasha no doubt called the pilot, and sprays up snow everywhere. Faolan and I crouch down as the crystals fly past us. Then, the wind from the plane dies down and I stand up. Faolan stays crouched.

"They found me!" he yelps, skittering backwards, "Guitain, run!"

"Wait, wait!" I bark, jumping in front of him, "It's okay. That thing is called a jet. It's going to take us to a place in the sky called the Helicarrier where we'll be staying for a while. Then, when we get the Pack is out of the lab, it'll be safe to go back to the ground and I'll show you my home."

Faolan pauses, processing this, and frowns, "Place in the sky?"

"We're going to fly."

His eyes widen, and then he slowly stands up. "Okay," he shakes out his mane and puffs up his chest, obviously trying to look brave. I roll my eyes and nudge him towards the jet. He stiffens, and then slowly walks towards it. He pauses before he enters, but when he sees how I hop on without hesitance, the wolf mutant climbs in.

I take up a lot of space, since I'm huge, but I manage to squeeze towards the edge of the jet and lay down. Faolan lies down next to me and buries his nose into my shoulder. His skin is as cold as ice, so, like a mother to its pup, I curl around him, trying to warm him up. He lets out a sigh, and soon his breathing slows down and he falls asleep next to me.

_Hmm, male wolf, _the Wolf practically purrs, _Nice_

_Shut up, _I snap at it.

There's the sound of a picture being taken, and I look up to see Uncle Tony on his phone again. "Madison's gonna love this!"

I roll my eyes and rest my head on Faolan's back. I'm bigger than him, but he's longer than me. And he's probably taller than me on his hind legs. My bones start to ache as fatigue crashes down on me. Slowly, my eyelids droop and I doze off.

I jerk back to reality as the jet gives a sudden jolt. I'm about to start panicking and screaming about how the world is ending when I realize that we're just landing.

Faolan jerks awake as the jet hits the ground and jumps to his feet. I hop to my paws and yelp, "We're here."

He looks at me and blinks. I nip his ear and lead the way onto the Helicarrier. The Avengers file out after us. My tail wagging with excitement, I lead Faolan towards Madison and I's room, but then Clint interrupts, "Zoey, Director Fury first, playtime later."

I pout, but morph back into a human and follow him into the main room. As we walk, Uncle Tony pulls me aside. Faolan turns to me, waiting, but I jerk my head towards Clint and he follows the archer.

"So," Uncle Tony says casually, swinging an arm around my shoulders, "What's your situation with your little boyfriend over there?"

"What?" I snap, blushing a bit.

"I'm just saying," he replies, tilting his head from side to side, "I need to know more about him and what's going on between you two before you let him into your room."

My eyes widen, "Stop it, Tony! He's just a friend!"

He snickers, knowing that he's annoying me, "Well, then who is it? Don't you have a knight in shining armor?"

I pause, and then turn to him with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, once I thought I did. But my 'knight in shining armor' turned out to be a loser in aluminum foil."

* * *

"Faolan," I stand between the male wolf mutant and the girl with chibi eyes, "This is my step sister, Madison. Madison, this is Fao-"

Madison's squeal interrupts me and she flings her arms around Faolan's mane, "Aww! He's so cuuuuuuuuute!"

Faolan stands stiffly, unsure of what to do. A few moments later, he looks up at me desperately. I stifle a laugh as Madison keeps fangirling. Finally, I pull her off of him, but she's still staring at him like he's an adorable puppy.

Faolan glances at me, and then at Madison, and then takes a step back. I grin and shake my head. "Let's go snack in the food court." I suggest and lead the way before they can say anything. Madison walks up to my side and says, "But, Zoey, it's, like, 5:30 in the morning. Don't you think we should get some sleep?"

I wave my hand and shout, "SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!" Earning odd looks from passing agents.

Bruce had advised that Faolan should take it easy for the rest of the night. He also said that he had to eat small portions of food because he's used to eating almost nothing. Yeah, just two more rules we're about to break.

"_What is food short?" _Faolan asks in human, trotting by my side. I correct him, "Food _court, _not short. It's basically this place with a bunch of food."

He swipes his tongue over his muzzle and starts walking on his hind legs. Madison and I look up. Wow, he's really tall. He almost touches the ceiling!

I'm about to comment on it, but then the scent of delicious food reaches my nose and I start walking faster. Soon, we're barging into the food court.

It's almost entirely empty, spare a few crazy agents who wake up early. They give us strange looks as we pass but carry on eating. My nose leads us to the frozen section. There are a bunch of wraps, juices, and other frozen foods. But instead of paying attention to the food, my gaze locks on something else.

Monster Energy Drinks

**I love Faolan**

**-Flaming Crow**


End file.
